More than four in ten Americans correctly guess that one year in a nursing home costs between $60,000 (26%) and $80,000 (18%) per year (national average for a private room is approximately $70,000/year*). About one-third of the public underestimates the cost (26% say $40,000 a year and 6% guess $20,000) and 16% overestimate that a year of nursing home care would cost about $100,000.

Three in ten (30%) adults believe that insurance would be the main source of funds to pay for nursing home care if they or a family member needed it. Fewer say personal savings (16%) or government programs such as Medicare or Medicaid (13%) would be the main source. Very few say family (3%) or Social Security (2%) would pay nursing home bills. Three in ten (30%) Americans don’t know or refused to say how they would pay for long-term care if they or a family member had to go to a nursing home.

In fact, Medicaid is the largest source of financing for nursing home care, paying almost half (46%) of nursing home expenses, while private insurance pays for just 8%. More than one-quarter of nursing home expenses (28%) are paid out-of-pocket.**

* Kaiser Family Foundation, Health Care and the 2004 Election: Long-Term Care 2004

** Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Medicaid and Long-Term Care,March 2005