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August, 2017
Chiang Mai Care
It’s no secret that elderly care can be very expensive whether you are employing the help of caregivers or paying for nursing home care. People paying for assisted living for their elderly loved ones are usually met with high costs, varying among different facilities. Of course, there are different factors affecting the cost of care such as the state of residence, local laws, demand for residential care, the amount of activities in the home with which assistance is required, and tax credits. Those are only a few examples. This post gives you a very basic idea of the cost of elderly care in the USA and UK. Its by no means clear cut as the costs are loosely based on location and level of care.
Caregiver Costs
Caregivers always charge on an hourly basis. In most places in the United States, the average pay for home care range from $16 to $20 per hour. On average price paid for an hour of home care in England is £15.50. If you’re paying for a licensed medical professional to care for your aging parents, that’s going to cost you an extra $1-2 per hour. On the West Coast and mid-Atlantic states, on the other hand, the charge is higher at $20 to $24 per hour. On the bright side of things, home care providers don’t usually charge extra for caring for dementia or Alzheimer’s patients.
Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Cost
Speaking of patients suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease, there are assisted living facilities for them. They are often called Memory Care, and they cost a lot higher than a regular nursing home would. This is because they offer higher levels of care and extra security to prevent patients from wandering and getting lost. The costs of assisted living can vary greatly, depending on the area it’s situated in, and some facilities charge significantly higher than others. The average Alzheimer’s care cost is $4,300 per month, but it can get as low as $3,000 a month in some southern states.
In the UK Alzheimer’s Society calculations suggest that it costs an average of £100,000 for an individual’s dementia care. (www.alzheimers.org.uk)
Nursing Home Costs
Nursing homes charge per day, so you can imagine how the costs would add up. The average cost of nursing homes across the United States is $250 per day, with some places charging within the range of $150 to $300 per day. UK Care Home Costs and Fees range from £500 -£1500 per week and vary around the UK.
Care of the Elderly, a Global Nursing Issue
Today, the world is seeing a growth in the numbers of people living longer than before, and this isn’t just a phenomenon in first world countries like the United States. Developing countries in Asia, Africa, and other places in the world have almost two in three people aged 60 or over. It is estimated that by the year 2050, “there will be more old people than there are children under 15 for the first time in history,” according to the United Nations Population Fund.
While this is generally considered uplifting news because it means more people maintain their good health, these statistics will soon bring some serious problems for us to face: the longer people live, the more elderly care is required and the higher its costs will be. The pressure on the families and the government can be economically devastating.
This is worsened by the fact that more than 40% of people aged 60 years and older are suffering from various disabilities, including Alzheimer’s and dementia, which require an even higher level of care and medical attention. In developing countries, the most common conditions among the elderly are cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, hearing loss, osteoarthritis, and heart disease.
The Elderly Selling Their Homes to Pay for Care
In the last few years, there has been an alarming number of people selling their homes to be able to pay for nursing homes and assisted living.
Every year, an estimated 130,000 elderly persons are admitted into assisted living, and their loved ones are forced to face the mountain of costs. In the UK, they have to pay around £40,000 for a year of accommodation. Depending on location, it can range from £20,000 to £60,000 a year, and it can still easily climb up based on the level and quality of care you want.
It’s no secret that many of the elderly are forced to pay for themselves because of these costs. And how do they do it? They have no choice other than to sell their homes to avoid costing their families large sums of money just so they could reside in a place where they are cared for.
In 2016, over 50,000 pensioners were forced to sell their homes to pay for their admission to nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and that is on top of their children chipping in to be able to afford the costs per year. This is what many families in the UK, even those whose elders qualify for government funding, have been facing in the past few years.
They all think this current system is unfair. These people have worked hard and paid for insurance all their lives, only to lose everything that they have worked hard for so they could at least live comfortably for the rest of their days. While selling their family homes is a decision they make with a heavy heart, according to them, it’s unavoidable. The current social care system is failing its citizens, and this has been the norm for too long.
In The UK The Trend Will Continue Until 2020 and Beyond.
Despite the disappointment from the people, the trend of selling their homes to be able to pay for elderly care is seen to continue until the year 2020, and maybe even longer than that.
The government’s £72,000 cap on what older citizens will have to pay for assisted living, the plan to raise the assets people can have, and a change that could add the option to reduce the costs for self-payers are all being postponed until April 2020.
With this news, families in the UK have no choice but to go for the option they are being forced to take to be able to afford paying a social care home for their loved ones. While home care is a relatively affordable alternative, nothing beats the medical care and security offered by professional facilities.
Alternative Care from Around the World
There is another solution to cut the cost of elderly care, but it does require a lot of research and investigation before committing to it. That one involves relocation, but not just relocation from one province to another. It means moving to another country. There are many countries that are looking to provide such a care service to foreigners. One such country is Thailand. Thailand is currently ahead of its competitors for one major advantage and that is its medical facilities. It has made substantial investments in health care over several years and it continues to increase those investments on an annual basis.
Remember the care provided isn’t just found in care homes. The service can be provided on a one to one basis at home. This suits many seniors as they are very independent and just require help from time to time.
As you can see there are no signs that elderly medical care will become cheaper in the near future but there are several measures in place to consider that may provide the level of care one requires.