> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smartseniordaily.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Long Term Healthcare: "Unaffordable" Says Report - URL: https://www.smartseniordaily.com/long-term-healthcare-unaffordable-says-report/ - Published: 2026-03-26T10:36:34.000Z - Updated: 2026-03-26T10:36:34.000Z - Description: Home care and other long-term care services have quickly become increasingly unaffordable - Author: Smart Senior Daily Staff - Tags: Assisted Living, Nursing Homes, Money Are you a "middle income" Senior whose got a long-term health care policy? Noticed your rates going up? You're not alone. The teeter-totter costs between [home care](https://www.smartseniordaily.com/why-home-independence-may-be-the-missing-senior-care-metric/) and [assisted living](https://www.smartseniordaily.com/tag/assisted-living/) have shot up nearly 50% in the last seven years, putting the cabosh on a 10-year affordability run for middle-income older adults looking to buy long-term care, a [new AARP’s report](https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/ltss/ltss-becoming-even-more-unaffordable/?ref=smartseniordaily.com) finds. And, if that's not enough, findings show that affordability varies dramatically across states. Older adults in states with the least affordable long-term care can pay for about half the amount of care that older adults in states with the most affordable. As costs rise faster than older adults’ household incomes, many families must deplete savings, rely on unpaid family caregivers, or go without needed care. > “Home care and other long-term care services have quickly become increasingly unaffordable in recent years,” **said Alan Weil, Senior Vice President for Public Policy at AARP.** “The result is a widening gap between what care costs and what older adults and their families can afford – and we've got to fix this, because the consequences can be life-threatening.” ## The numbers don't lie AARP Public Policy Institute · March 2026 # Long-Term Care Costs Are Crushing Middle-Class Americans A year of home care consumes nearly an entire year's income — and prices have surged nearly 50% in just five years. Median 65+ Household Income $59,648 per year (all sources) Avg. Social Security Benefit $23,700 per year (retired workers, 2024) Median 75+ Household Savings $50,000 total financial assets (2022) Annual Cost of Care vs. Median Household Income (2024) Adult Day Services $26,000 Homemaker Services $51,480 Home Health Aide $53,040 Assisted Living $70,800 Nursing Home (shared room) $111,325 Nursing Home (private room) $127,750 Median income ($59,648) Bars scaled to max cost ($127,750) How Long Does $50,000 in Savings Last? A lifetime of savings. Gone in months. Home Care (30 hrs/wk) \~11 mo. savings last about 1 year Assisted Living \~8.5 mo. savings last under a year Nursing Home (shared room) \~5.4 mo. savings gone in months Nursing Home (private room) \~4.7 mo. savings gone in months Based on median financial assets of $50,000 for age 75+ households (Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, 2022). Bar length represents months of care funded out of savings, relative to a 12-month baseline. \~50% rise in cost of home care & assisted living 2019 → 2024 22% rise in median older household income over the same period 2019 → 2024 2×+ more expensive in the highest-cost state vs. the lowest, for every care type State variation, 2024 **Source:** AARP Public Policy Institute, "Long-Term Services and Supports Are Becoming Even More Unaffordable for Middle-Class Americans," March 2026\. Data from Genworth/CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2024, U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2024, Social Security Administration Fast Facts 2025, and Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances 2022\. Home care costs based on 30 hours/week. Costs and income in nominal dollars. ## Is there any way around this? In addition to the rising cost, the researchers uncovered some other pretty ugly metrics. The second big sting is that **what Americans earn on average is not** **enough to pay for long-term care.** The study said that a Senior 65+ who makes in the neighborhood of $60k is going to exhaust almost all of that on the annual median cost of **home care services which is now running upwards of $50,000**. If you've got enough in the bank to cover that, you're ok, but most of those 75+ only have about $50k in financial assets – barely enough to cover a year of home care or only a few months of nursing home care.