AARP: Long-Term Services and Supports Are Becoming Even More Unaffordable for Middle-Class Americans
This AARP Public Policy Institute report highlights a sharp decline in the affordability of long-term services and supports (LTSS) for middle-class Americans between 2019 and 2024, reversing a decade of gradual improvement. Driven by high labor costs and inflation, the median cost for home health and assisted living increased by nearly 50% over those five years, significantly outpacing the 22% growth in median household income for those aged 65 and older. By 2024, annual costs for typical home care or facility-based services often equaled or exceeded the entire median income of older households, frequently exhausting lifetime savings within months. The report also notes substantial geographic disparity, with care in the most expensive states costing more than double that of the least expensive states, leaving many middle-income families to rely on unpaid family caregivers or deplete assets to qualify for Medicaid.
