Report: Long Term Care Market Tops $300 Billion Dollars
NEW YORK, Feb. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The long term care market reached $305 billion dollars in 2015, according to Kalorama Information. The healthcare market research firm has reported on the markets for assisted living, nursing, hospice and home care for a decade and found no slowdown in the growth trend in this industry. Due to the aging of the population, this is not surprising. Growth will come from aging baby boomers, who are both customers and decision-makers. The finding was made in Kalorama Information's most recent report The Long Term Care Market.
"Boomers represent approximately 76 million individuals in the United States in 2015," said Bruce Carlson, Publisher of Kalorama Information. "This enormous group will be making decisions about whether senior living is the right option for their aging loved ones and eventually for themselves."
Long term care involves a broad spectrum of services, ranging from daytime help with activities of daily living (ADLs) to skilled nursing, specialty care, rehabilitation, and sub-acute care. It is typically delivered for an extended period of time, during which a patient's needs may change, usually to require higher levels of care. A key goal of long term care is to help patients maintain a maximum degree of functional independence while providing a smooth continuum of care, from low-intensity services through post-acute care. Four main types of long term care are common:
- Nursing homes are primarily engaged in providing inpatient nursing and health-related personal care;
- home health care encompasses medical care services delivered in the home by non-facility based home health care agencies.
- hospice care provides medical, psychological, and spiritual care for terminally ill patients and their families;
- assisted living communities provide daily meals, personal services, health care, and 24-hour personal care services for residents in a facility.
A driving factor in the aging of the population is the increase in life expectancy. In 1900, life expectancy was 47 years. In 1996, U.S. life expectancy at birth was 76.1 years - 73.0 years for men and 79.0 years for women. By 2013, however, average life expectancy had reached an all time high of 78.7 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report notes that as the U.S. population as a whole becomes more ethnically diverse, so will the elderly population. The report noted that most elderly men are married, while most elderly women are not. Based on population figures for both sexes, while elderly men are about twice as likely as elderly women to be married and living with their spouses, elderly women are three times as likely as elderly men to be widowed. Therefore, due to numbers of men compared with women over the age of 65, most elderly men have a spouse to act as caregiver when they need assistance, while most elderly women do not. Also, elderly women are much more likely than men are to live alone.
Although it is estimated that two out of five Americans will need long-term care at some point in their lives, many cannot afford it. Residential nursing care is the most expensive, at more than $250 per day for a semi-private room in 2015, according to the annual Genworth survey, but assisted living can also be pricey, with monthly costs exceeding $3,600 in many facilities just for basic care. Although home care is more affordable, at $20 per hour or less in many areas, individuals who require care that is more extensive can quickly incur charges of $1,500 or more per month. This contrasts with relatively low household incomes for elderly persons - the estimated median household income for householders aged 65 and over was just $32,000 in 2015, with Social Security payments comprising a large portion of this.
The report, The Long Term Care Market, provides market sizing and forecasts for each of the four major types of care – in addition to market analysis. The report is available from Kalorama Information at http://www.kaloramainformation.com/redirect.asp?progid=88416&productid=9820056.
About Kalorama Information
Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, supplies the latest in independent medical market research in diagnostics, biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare; as well as a full range of custom research services. Reports can be purchased through Kalorama's website and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com.
We routinely assist the media with healthcare topics. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and our blog at www.kaloramainformation.com.
Contact:
Bruce Carlson
(212) 807-2622
[email protected]
www.KaloramaInformation.com
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150831/262422LOGO
SOURCE Kalorama Information
Share this article