The Cost of Long Term Care in New York

Most Americans, at some point in their lives, will face the difficult task of arranging long term care for themselves, their family members, or both. This care can be in a facility, such as a nursing home or assisted living facility, or at one’s home, and can cover a variety of services, including healthcare services or assistance with everyday personal tasks. The cost of these vital services can be staggering.  In New York, just one year of care in a nursing home costs, on average, approximately $159,000 per person.  Even if one receives care at home, the average annual cost in New York is approximately $66,000 per person. In 2018 alone, Americans paid approximately $55 billion in out-of-pocket expenses for long term care, and even that eye-popping sum was a distant second to the Medicaid program, which paid three times that amount — roughly $159 billion — toward long term care expenses. This incredible burden is expected to worsen over time as the country’s population ages; by one estimate, long term care expenses could be 3% of U.S. gross domestic product by 2050, more than double what it was in 2010.  For more information on long term care insurance, including the cost of care, please see the following Report on Long Term Care.