No-Cost, In-Home Care for Elderly Provided by Family Members Amounts to an Estimated $306B Annually

Nearly 80% of all long-term care is provided in-home, most of it by family members at no cost, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The care that "29 million Americans provide for free amounts to an estimated $306 billion" annually, according to the Inquirer. Medicaid spending for in-home care has tripled between 1996 and 2005 to $22.7 billion. While Medicaid will provide aides for in-home care, they are limited to services including light house cleaning, errands or bathing and are not permitted to provide skilled nursing care, such as help with feeding tubes. The Inquirer profiled a married couple in the Philadelphia area. The husband has been bedridden since experiencing a stroke in 1995, and his wife -- who is confined to a wheelchair -- provides most of his care in their home (Vitez, Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/29).