Home health costs leaping

Washington Post  - Government funding cuts, a caregiver shortage and immigration limits are layering new strains on an industry already hard-pressed to meet demand: Home health and personal care openings are projected to jump 17 percent from 2024 to 2034, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and home health spending is expected to nearly double, to $317 billion, in 2033....

Spending on at-home elder care shot up 7 percent from August to September, the largest monthly increase on record, according to government data. Nursing home costs rose 4 percent from September 2024 to September 2025, while home health care surged 12 percent, far exceeding the 3 percent overall inflation rate during that time.

The U.S. elder care industry is caught between competing forces as demand swells: Many families say they would prefer in-home care but can’t afford it. Yet the industry struggles to attract people willing to take on the intimate, labor-intensive work of caregiving, largely because of the low pay. For a home health or personal care aide, the median salary was $34,900 last year, or $16.78 an hour. Nurses and other medically trained staff who also attend to seniors at home earn more.

Even retail and restaurant jobs can offer better compensation, said Jake Krilovich, chief executive of the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts. When his state passed a $15 minimum wage, “we saw a lot of the workforce migrate as a result of that.”