Home Health Care Costs For The Elderly Soared Over Past 12 Months, Largest Price Increase Ever

As the United States deals with the affects of an aging population, the soaring costs of home healthcare for the elderly and bed-ridden have become a harsh reality thanks in part to Bidenomics and the resulting inflation.

According to the latest Consumer Price Index data released on Wednesday, costs for these essential services have skyrocketed by an astonishing 14.2 percent over the past year—the largest increase since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking such data in 2005.

The nation’s approximately 73 million Baby Boomers are driving up the demand and, consequently, the prices for nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home healthcare.

The Administration for Community Living estimates that around 70 percent of American adults aged 65 and older will require some form of long-term care in the future.

However, this growing need is met with a harsh reality: the exorbitant costs that threaten to drain the savings of those on fixed incomes.

In-home care providers, which include home health aides who assist with personal care and homemaker aides who help with household chores, are becoming increasingly unaffordable.

According to insurance company Genworth, the median hourly cost in 2023 for a home health aide was $33, while a homemaker aide charged $30 per hour. These costs are expected to continue rising, placing an immense financial burden on the elderly and their families.

Marc Cohen, co-director for the Leading Age Long Term Services and Supports Center at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, attributes this striking increase in in-home care costs to shortages in the country’s home health workforce and rising wages for these workers.

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In 2022, approximately 4.8 million direct care workers, including home health aides, provided assistance to 9.8 million people at home, 1.2 million in residential care facilities, and 1.2 million in nursing homes, as per a KFF analysis.

Although the direct care sector is projected to add over 1 million new jobs by 2031, this growth will not suffice to meet the country’s escalating eldercare needs.

The current administration’s economic policies, often referred to as “Bidenomics,” have failed to address this looming crisis adequately. Instead, they have contributed to the inflationary pressures that are squeezing the budgets of the elderly and their caregivers.

As the cost of home healthcare continues to rise at an alarming rate, it is evident that the current system is unsustainable.

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The elderly, particularly those on fixed incomes, are facing an uncertain future where the care they desperately need may become financially out of reach.