Out-of-Pocket Costs in Caring for an Aging Loved One
(12/5/07)- According to the nation's first in-depth study of the out-of-pocket costs for caring for an aging loved one averages about $5,500 a year. This amount is about double what previous estimates had given for these costs.
If you add on to this figure many of the other expenses such as groceries, household goods, drugs, medical co-payments and transportation, this would bring the figure up to $8,728 a year.
There is of course no way to figure into this equation the time, energy and heart aches involved in this matter, but anyway you look at it, it is costly both financially, physically and emotionally.
The survey on which these numbers is based was conducted by the National Alliance for Caregivers, a research and policy organization, and Evercare, a division of UnitedHealth Group, the health care insurer that also coordinates long-term care for 150,000 clients.
The findings came from a telephone survey of about 1,000 adults caring for someone over the age of 50 who needed help with activities such as bathing, using the toilet, preparing meals, shopping or managing finances. It builds on an earlier survey that was done by the National Alliance in 2004. It is estimated that there are about 34 million Americans who fall within this grouping.
The 2004 survey concluded that the out-of-pocket cost came to about $2,400 a year. The new survey had 29 questions devoted to the out-of-pocket costs that the caregiver incurred in helping a loved one.
Of the 1,000 respondents, only 2% said they had never laid out any money. The burden was heavier for those who earned less, 20% for those who earned less than $25,000 versus the 10% for the average individual questioned.
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By Allan Rubin
posted December5 , 2007
http://www.therubins.com
To e-mail: hrubin12@nyc.rr.com or rubin@brainlink.com