Cost of home health care services increased significantly, survey says

Woodbury, MN, March 27, 2024 – illumifin has just released its 2023 Cost of Care study and comprehensive analysis. Now in its tenth year, this longitudinal study includes national, state and regional costs of various care services, spanning skilled nursing, adult day care, home health care and assisted living facilities.

illumifin’s Cost of Care study gathers tens of thousands of data points from care providers nationwide, with results normalized by the company’s in-house actuarial and data science teams. Insurers and financial services providers rely on this data for both forecasting and stakeholder education as well as informing customers and agents about national and regional cost variations. In addition, care providers benefit from understanding the market rates for services in their area. These insights are also accessible via illumifin’s What Care Costs website, which offers interactive maps and projection tools to sort, rank and evaluate average costs of LTC services across the US.

illumifin’s study found that the average hourly rate for a home health aide in 2023 was $30.62, an increase of 5.2 percent over the prior year. Meanwhile, the average per-visit rate for a registered nurse in 2023 was $147.72, a decrease of 1.6 percent over the prior year, potentially reflecting rates beginning to normalize post pandemic.

The research also shows facility prices were mixed. The average assisted living facility rates increased between 0.6 and 3.8 percent in 2023 depending on room type, reversing course from the pandemic where assisted living facility rates had been trending downward. However, skilled nursing facility rates experienced a small decrease in 2023 between 0.4 and 1.0 percent.

The most expensive states for home health aides were Washington and New Hampshire, whereas Mississippi and Louisiana were the least expensive. Meanwhile, the most expensive assisted living rates were found in New Hampshire and New Jersey, while the lowest assisted living prices were found in Alabama and Oklahoma.