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- Business Insider is seeking reader responses to document elder care costs in the US.
- Caring for elderly relatives can cost families over $200,000 annually.
- Families are facing uncertainty in predicting long-term care expenses for elderly relatives.
Caring for an older relative is expensive. We want to document what long-term care really costs American families, bill by bill.
One of the biggest problems families face is not knowing how much they are likely to spend, and there are few resources that offer any frame of reference.
We are inviting readers to share their stories with Business Insider reporters to help us assemble a comprehensive look at these costs. We want to know how much caring for an older loved one has cost you and your family. Getting your input will help us break down barriers to accessing financial information and better prepare our readers for their futures.
This matters because long-term care costs have burdened families across the country. Some told Business Insider that they've spent over $200,000 a year on memory care facilities. Others have shelled out $450,000 on tiny homes for their parents. Many have put their jobs, retirement planning, and livelihoods on hold to care for their older loved ones, some moving abroad to afford it.
To participate in our series, which we anticipate will be published over the course of the next year, please complete the questionnaire below, which asks a few basic questions about your elder care situation. After you do that, a reporter may be in touch with you via email or text about setting up a time to talk through more granular questions and, later, reviewing documents (such as bills, receipts, insurance information, etc.) to verify the costs you report. Any verifying documents will be transmitted via a secure portal.
Only Business Insider reporters and editors, as well as employees and service providers that support this effort, will have access to what you share. Business Insider may use your responses, and any information you later provide in follow-up requests, in its reporting on elder care costs.
Be sure to press "submit" on the form above. If you filled out the survey, we thank you very much and look forward to talking with you further.