Published: November 25, 2009 01:56 pm      

Home health care in Boone costs well below national, state averages

Home health aide costs are a bargain in Boone County.

A survey done for the MetLife Mature Market Institute found the per hour cost of a home health aide ranged from a low of $13 in Shreveport, La., to $30 in Rochester, Minn.

The $5 flat fee charged by Boone County Senior Services is cheap in comparison.

“That’s why,” BCSSI Executive Director Sue Ritz said, “we’re going to change.”

On Jan. 1, the agency will shift to a sliding fee, based on a person’s income, Ritz said. For a single person, earning less than the federal poverty level baseline of $10,830 a year, the fee will not change, she said.

A health aide’s visit here “is however long it takes to complete the necessary aid,” Ritz said. Health aides perform basic personal care such as bathing, measuring blood pressure and testing blood sugar levels.

The agency charges $10 for a once-per-month visit by a nurse, Ritz said.

The MetLife study assessed the cost of semi-private and private rooms in nursing homes, assisted living community costs, home care services and adult day care services between 2008 and this year.

Increases were found in every category, the MLMMI found.

Nationwide, the average annual cost for a private room in a long-term care nursing home was nearly $80,000, or $219 per day.

A private room’s cost at an Indianapolis-area facility ranged from $130 to $310 per day, or $47,450 to $113,150 per year.

Across the state, the average price ranged from $155 to $260 per day, the MLMMI said.

Hoosiers paid an average of $22 per hour for home health aid service, with a statewide range of $16 to $40.

Monthly assisted living costs were highest in Wilmington, Del., the MetLife study determined. There, it cost an average of $5,219. North Dakota residents averaged a nation-lowest $2,041 per month.

Indiana residents paid from $1,500 to $6,240 per month for assisted living quarters; Indianapolis-area costs were $2,075 to $3,480 per month.

An assisted living facility provides housing, meals, laundry, personal care and other services for not less than 24 hours a week, according to www.senior-assisted-living.net.

Nursing home residents require around-the-clock skilled care for nearly all daily activities.

In Lebanon, assisted living and nursing home care are available at Hickory Creek at Lebanon, Parkwood Health Care Center, Essex Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Homewood Health Campus.

More information about nursing homes and other health care options for seniors is available from the Indiana State Department of Health at www.in.gov/isdh.