The High Cost of Nursing Homes-Claire Larkin

The podcast episode discusses the underrepresented topic of nursing home costs in America. The high cost, $108,000 per year, is unrealistic for most people, causing financial strain and forcing some to sell their assets. The government should provide more funding for nursing homes, but only 7.2% are run by the government. The lack of government support is a problem recognized by experts. Personal experiences and stories are shared to highlight the impact of nursing home costs on families. The episode emphasizes the importance of early financial planning for long-term care coverage. Hey guys, welcome back to my podcast, Why Your Health Matters, where I talk about all things related to your health. My name is Claire Larkin, and today I'll be talking about a topic that is underrepresented in the debate around the healthcare system in America, nursing homes, specifically the cost of them. This is a topic that I feel is greatly underrepresented in the debate around healthcare, which is a shame because it affects such a vulnerable population with the elderly. Now, I know most people listening to this are hopefully a long way away from having to think about paying for a nursing home, but maybe your parents or grandparents are starting to worry about what they'll do when they can't take care of themselves anymore. A lot of people are turned off from enrolling in a nursing home because it is outrageously expensive, which is a major problem because everyone gets old at some point, and it's important that we have a place to go when our family can no longer take care of us. I just want everyone to know that it's never too early to start planning these things, and I hope that after listening, you'll understand why it's so important to start saving for nursing home care early. My goal for this podcast is to educate you on the high cost of nursing homes and why this needs to change. So without further ado, let's get started. So to start things off, I'm going to reference a few statistics on American nursing homes, all of which were compiled by Abby McCain from the online website Zipia. The age range for nursing home residents is about 65 and up, and there are 1.4 million nursing home residents in the United States, which sounds like a big number, and it is, but when you think about the number of older people that fit into this age range that you know, it actually is a pretty small number. It's no surprise that this is such an underreported issue because not a huge percent of the elderly population are in nursing homes. But why is that? It's because the average cost of nursing homes in America is $108,000 a year. $108,000 a year. This is why I'm so concerned with this issue, because that is a ridiculous number. That is completely unrealistic for someone to be expected to pay for that. And to me, that's disrespectful to elderly people who already have gone through probably a lot in their lives, they're in most likely a bad health situation, and to make them suffer even more with having to pay $108,000 a year is ridiculous. And this number is very common. I'm sure a lot of you that have had loved ones in a nursing home know this number is accurate. I myself can vouch that this number is accurate. I've heard stories of people having to sell their house to give up their life savings to make payments for their nursing home. Most people I know don't have $108,000 just readily available. And so it's no surprise that people who end up enrolling in nursing homes end up in financial disrepair at the end of it. And to illustrate this, I'm going to play a clip from CNBC. So please take a moment to listen. Stan Horwitz's family didn't have a plan for his father's long-term care until there was a crisis. Just after July 4th in 2016, his life changed in a big way. That's when his father fell, setting off a cascade of medical issues. He was never able to return home, and moving to an assisted living facility drained his dad's savings. He whittled through $300,000 in four years. This is just one of many clips that I could have played that demonstrates just how bad your finances can get in a nursing home. And I hope this clip gave you guys a little bit of perspective of what it would be like to be in that situation. And I hope that going forward you're able to evaluate what your life would look like if you don't plan ahead for something like this. All right, I think I've driven home the point that nursing homes cost a lot of money. I'm sure you're naturally all wondering why that is. And the answer is fairly simple. According to CBS, the money goes for all the medical care, the utilities, rent, insurance, taxes, all the costs of running around-the-clock medical care. So to summarize, the $108,000 per person is all being used to fund the nursing home itself. Another issue that drives up the cost of nursing homes is that nursing homes can only house a certain number of residents, which makes competition in landing a spot in one of these homes very stiff. And so that's what drives up the price as well. And this shouldn't be an issue. In my opinion, the government should be providing sufficient funds in order for these nursing homes to be able to provide a certain level of care at a lower cost. And unfortunately, only 7.2% of nursing homes in the country are run by the government. The rest are either run by for-profit or non-for-profit organizations. Obviously, this is a complicated issue. But again, I think that the government should be doing more to help people in these situations. And I'm not the only one that thinks this. I'm going to play for you guys a clip called Dying Broke done by PBS News. In it, Jordan Rau from the KFF Health News is interviewed about this issue. Take a listen. Is there any kind of role for state government and a federal government to play? And have we taken those steps? Have we tried to take those steps? Well, we've tried one of the and failed on a national level. We have failed on that. There was a provision that was a voluntary insurance provision in the Affordable Care Act, and it was repealed even before taking effect because it was unworkable. So on the federal level, there's very little movement except for a tiny bit of tinkering around Medicaid. What Rau said in this interview really, really resonated with me, because I do feel like the government isn't doing enough to recognize the legitimacy of this issue, which is a problem because so many people are going broke from having to pay for their own care. And this is an issue that is very important to me personally, and I'm sure for a lot of you, because I too have had loved ones who's gone through financial strain from having to be put into a nursing home. My grandpa Mike, for example, was going through a lot of health issues that forced him to be placed in a nursing home. And my grandma and him never really had a lot of money, and especially towards the latter course of their life, the money was tight. And for them to fork over $100,000 a year was not ideal at all. And I know that had he lived longer than when he did, they absolutely would have had to sell their house. They also had a farm that was their only source of income, and I'm sure they would have had to sell that too. And for some people, losing the amount of money my grandparents did just isn't worth the care you would get at a nursing home. And so many people choose to do what my mom does for my grandma, which is to be a full-time caregiver to your elderly parent. My mother spent the last three years taking care of my grandma, who unfortunately has cancer and has severe arthritis, so she can't move around very well, isn't able to take care of herself. And so my mom has taken over responsibility in replacement of a nursing home. And this is because my grandma can't afford a nursing home. And because she can't afford a nursing home, my mom's had to take complete control of my grandma's life, which is a lot of stress on my mom as well. If any of you have gone through something similar with your parent or grandparent, you know how difficult this is for the entire family. Even if you don't know anyone in your life going through this, you yourself may one day have to go into a nursing home. And so the best piece of advice I can leave you with is to save up your money for long-term care coverage. My parents are doing it right now. It ensures that when they reach a certain age, they will be able to go into a nursing home without having to withdraw this large sum of money because they've planned ahead for it. I know it's hard to envision yourself getting old, but you'll thank yourself later if you do this ahead of time. I hope this episode has educated you on a topic that is very underrepresented and at least made you think about what your future may look like when you get old. That's it for this episode of my podcast, Why Your Health Matters. Thank you for tuning in and have a great day.