The Covid-19 pandemic has only driven up the costs of nursing home and at-home health care services. According to the Cost of Care survey, the cost of a private room in a nursing home in Virginia increased by 7.4% last year. That’s nearly two times of the rise in costs nationally. While prices have been steadily rising over the last decade, this pandemic has worsened matters, leaving many people to wonder how they will afford these costs in the future. However, with the help of a long-term care insurance advisor, you can understand and plan for these future expenses.
Covid-19 Impacts
With the implementation of new safety and training protocols in response to this pandemic, and the need to buy more personal protective equipment for employees, the costs of providing care have increased.
While providers have been competing for years with higher-paying, less-demanding jobs, it has become increasingly difficult to recruit and maintain the necessary professionals. In some cases, parents need to stay home with school age children and others are concerned about exposure to the virus.
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Mitigating Costs
Most long-term care providers are trying to mitigate these new costs but over 60% predicted they would have to raise fees and 43% said the increase would be more than 5%. Furthermore, some providers have offered an increase in hazard pay to keep their employees that might face exposure to Covid-19 working. Since attracting skilled labor is so difficult, many providers cannot risk losing the employees they currently have, so even holding onto their current workforce is becoming more expensive.
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Long Term Care Planning
One bright side of this pandemic is that it has changed the way people think about long-term care planning. As an alternative to nursing homes, it may be more cost effective to age at home. While nursing home costs and assisted living costs are rising quickly, surveys show that the cost of at home services rose less than 1% in Virginia. Homemaker services include hands-off tasks such as running errands, cooking, and cleaning. While health aid services include personal assistance with bathing, eating, dressing, and more.
Long Term Care Insurance
According to the survey, around 40% of people said they were increasing their willingness to prioritize saving for long-term care. About 33% said they have already started thinking about or researching the issue and planning for how they pay for long-term care services. If you are ready to discuss long-term care planning, please contact Argent Bridge Advisors today.
