McKnights Senior Living
Up to 80% of older adults have modest assets and would be unable to afford four years in an assisted living community or more than two years of nursing home care, according to a new study.
A new analysis by the National Council on Aging and the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston of data from the Health and Retirement Study compared the cost of long-term care services and supports with the total net value of all assets of people aged 60 or more years. What they found is that 80% — 47 million — of older adults don’t have the financial resources to cover the care they may need down the road.
Although the value of financial assets marginally increased or stayed the same for most older adults between 2016 and 2018, the analysis found that on top of lacking the resources to pay for long-term care, 60% of older adults would be unable to afford two years of in-home LTSS.