Study finds increases in nursing home, assisted living costs

An illustration of the problem.

"Costs for nursing homes, assisted living facilities and some in-home care services have increased for a fifth consecutive year, and could rise further if a shortage of long-term care workers isn't resolved, a new study indicates."

This is an example of bad reporting and bad media advocacy and bad study data that can only result in harm to you.

Costs are considered to be a result of supply and demand.

One way to look at old person costs is from the demand side.

Then a "shortage of long-term care workers" may be an issue.

The other way is to look at it from the demand side.

If fewer people "needed" nursing care, then there would be no "shortage of long-term care workers."

There would be too many and costs would go down.

You have a choice.

Buy into the system that requires your descent into dependence.

Or

Remain independent for as long as you possibly can.

That is a real goal of a fitness program.

Maybe you think you are entitled to reliance on someone else to push you in your wheelchair, turn you in bed, hold you up as you try to negotiate stairs with your walker, etc.

Whether you are or are not should never be the point.

The point should be for how long can you avoid these things and what can you do to achieve that?

"Buck Stinson, president of Genworth Financial's long-term care insurance business, said the results indicate that 'the expense of just a few years of long-term care in a facility or at home can very quickly wipe out a lifetime of savings.'

He noted, for example, that an elderly person typically spends 2- 1/2 years in a nursing home, or more than $190,000 on average at today's costs.

He said that individuals, especially the baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964, "need to do more thinking about their own retirement plan and how they're going to age."

Stinson also said there was a need to find ways to 'recruit close to 200,000 people a year to keep pace with the aging demographic.' A companion Genworth Financial study found that low wages and benefits as well as a lack of training and career-advancement potential have made it difficult to attract workers to the elder care industry and retain them."

Clearly, it is better to recruit and train fewer workers, let unfit old people who chose that option fend for themselves and act as inspirations to the rest of us to shape up or...else.