Genworth Releases Cost of Care Survey Results for 2023

Twenty Years of Tracking Long-Term Care Costs

The cost of long-term care services increased across all provider types and increased more substantially for certain settings, according to Genworth’s Cost of Care Survey 2023. The most substantial cost increases occurred in home health aide and homemaker services costs. Inflation and the shortage of skilled care workers are the core drivers of increases in the costs of care services.

Genworth, in partnership with CareScout, a wholly owned subsidiary of Genworth Financial, Inc., has been conducting its Cost of Care Survey since 2004. After recalibrating the survey to align with both the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and shifts in the long-term care industry, this updated survey includes enhanced methodology and new questions on care options, cost drivers, and person-centered care.¹

“Understanding long-term care options and the costs associated with care are critical first steps toward being prepared for whatever you want your aging journey to look like,” says Jamala Arland, President and CEO, Genworth U.S. Life Insurance. “That was true when we started this body of research and is even more true as the Cost of Care Survey celebrates its 20^th anniversary this year.”

Cost of Care

The 2023 survey found that the costs of long-term care services have increased since 2022 as follows:

• Assisted living facility rates increased by 1.4% to an annual national median cost of $64,200 per year.
• The cost of a home health aide, which includes “hands-on” personal assistance with activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating, has increased 10.0% to an annual median cost of $75,500.² Homemaker services, which include assistance with “hands-off” tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and running errands, have increased 7.1% to an annual median cost of $68,600.³
• The national annual median cost of a semi-private room in a skilled nursing facility rose to $104,000, an increase of 4.4%, while the cost of a private room in a nursing home increased 4.9% to $116,800.

“We saw increases between 1% and 10% across facility types for this year’s survey,” says Arland. “While this continues the upward trend we’ve seen over the past several surveys, we are actively digging deeper into the data to analyze trends and plan to share those findings in the coming months.”