Nursing Home Stays Deplete Seniors’ Assets

Research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) found after respondents’ first entries into a nursing home, total household wealth fell steadily over a six-year period.   

For those who lived in a nursing home for six months or more, the median total household wealth was only $5,518. Median wealth falls to zero within six years after the initial nursing home entry.  

For those who experienced nursing home stays, purchase of long-term care insurance increased steadily over the last decade, but coverage remains low (14% in 2010).  

“Seniors face a number of retirement planning uncertainties like longevity risk, inflation risk, and investment risk, but perhaps none as critical to their retirement security as health risk,” EBRI said.