Many Americans who serve as caregivers are consumed by the immense cost of tending to ailing or aging family members. 

And as the baby boomer generation ages, more Americans are in for a rude awakening as to just how expensive caring for older adults has become.  

The price of nursing home care increased by an average of 2.4 percent each year between 2012 and 2019, for a cumulative increase of 20.7 percent, according to data from the health research group Altarum Institute.    

That stems from multiple sources, including personnel costs and the price of adhering to facility regulations, said Terry Fulmer, president of the John A. Hartford Foundation, a nonprofit that works to improve the lives of older adults.  

But the cost of care has primarily shot up due to increased demand in adult day cares, assisted living facilities or nursing homes. 

Jean Spera, 67, has been a full-time caretaker for her husband, John, since 2011, when his health started to rapidly deteriorate without any clear cause. 

For years, she managed to take care of John in their Holliston, Mass., home without any outside help, even as he became more fragile […]