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How Often Do You Pay Care Homes?
Date Updated: January 3, 2025
Written by:
Sarah has produced thousands of articles in diverse niches over her decade-long career as a full-time freelance writer. This includes substantial content in the fields of senior care and health care. She has experience writing about wide-ranging topics, such as types of care, care costs, funding options, state Medicaid programs and senior resources.
Reviewed by:
Kristi Bickmann, a licensed Long-Term Care Specialist, represents top-rated "Traditional" & "Hybrid" LTC companies. Serving associations such as the American Nurses Association, she's a licensed insurance agent in 27 states. Specializing in insurance products for seniors, Kristi helps hundreds of families every year protect assets, retirement, and loved ones. She understands aging concerns firsthand, having assisted her own parents. Kristi ensures accuracy on topics about senior long-term care and its consequences.
You often pay care homes monthly, although some charge weekly or every two weeks. Check payment terms with your preferred residence before moving in. Additionally, you may incur periodic extra charges on top of your regular care home fees.
How Much Do Care Homes Charge?
No national figures exist for care home fees. However, residences offer similar support services as assisted living facilities but in a more intimate, homelike setting with fewer amenities. Therefore, assisted living rates offer a benchmark figure when considering care home costs. According to Genworth’s Cost of Care Survey, assisted living communities charge a national median fee of $5,350 per month in 2024.
However, prices vary widely depending on the location and exact services required. For example, median monthly assisted rates run $5,341 in South Dakota, $6,050 in Virginia, $7,250 in Alaska and $4,120 in Georgia. Care home prices likely follow similar patterns.
What Additional Charges Apply in Care Homes?
Care homes typically provide personal care services, hands-on assistance with everyday tasks and housekeeping alongside bed and board. Caregivers usually also offer companionship and arrange informal leisure activities. Many homes include utilities in an individual's standard charge. However, others bill seniors based on the care they need. Although residences may include specific features within their regular rates, others apply surcharges for aspects such as:
- Medication management
- Excursions
- Special activities
- Transportation
- Meal preferences
- Wi-Fi
- Personal items, such as toiletries and clothing
- Pets
Where extra charges apply, residents may receive a supplemental fee each billing period. Certain services operate on a pay-to-use basis, where residents must pay immediately.
How to Pay for Care Homes
Several means exist for paying for care homes, including private-pay options and financial assistance programs. Older individuals must meet eligibility criteria for public benefits, and their residences must accept third-party payments. Government aid doesn't cover bed and board costs. Many seniors use a combination of resources to cover their bills. Ways to pay include:
- Private income, including pensions, dividends and retirement benefits
- Savings
- Family assistance
- Loans
- Reverse mortgages
- Private insurance, including long-term care insurance and life insurance
- VA benefits
- Medicaid
- Medicaid waiver programs
- Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly