In Florida,

almost three-fourths of the population worries about nursing-home care. Is it any wonder, with private-room facilities reaching almost $100,000 a year?

Nearly three-fourths of Floridians are concerned about the costs of nursing-home care, with the worries highest among women, according to results of the annual USF-Nielsen Sunshine State Survey released Tuesday by the University of South Florida.

The survey found that 37 percent of the people surveyed were “very” concerned about nursinghome costs, while 36 percent were “somewhat” concerned.

It found that 44 percent of women were “very” concerned, compared with 28 percent of men.

“Common explanations are longer life expectancies among women and a higher percentage of women caregivers — both at home and in assisted- living facilities and nursing homes,” said a summary written by project director Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political-science professor.

The fears might be wellfounded. Long-term care costs are surging again and the most expensive option — a private nursing home room — may soon top $100,000 per year.

Growing labor expenses and sicker patients helped push the median cost of care that includes adult day care and assisted-living communities up an average of 4.5 percent this year, according to a survey released Tuesday by Genworth Financial. That's the second-highest increase since Genworth started its survey in 2004.

The cost of home health-aide services climbed the most, rising 6 percent to $21.50 an hour. Private nursing-home care now costs more than $97,000 annually.

The USF-Nielsen survey also found the greatest worries among people ages 55 to 64.

“First, this age group is more aware of the actual costs of nursing-home care since many are already dealing with elder relatives in such facilities,” the summary said. “Second, they are worried from a personal perspective. Many have not saved enough money for retirement and are quite aware that they are likely to live longer than today's elderly and (are) worried they won't live better.”

The survey of 1,215 Floridians age 18 and older was conducted from July 24 to Aug. 14. The margin of error is 2.8 percentage points.

Many Americans don’t plan for expenses like long-term care or understand them until they face them, said Joe Caldwell of the National Council on Aging, which is not tied to Genworth's study.

“People don’t like to think about it and talk about it ahead of time, so they kind of put off planning and saving for it financially because they don’t think it’s going to happen to them,” he said.

Long-term care costs can impose a crushing financial burden on individuals or families in part because private health insurance and Medicare, the federal program for people over age 65, offer only limited help. That can force people who don’t have private coverage to spend down their assets until they qualify for the government's health insurance program for the poor, Medicaid.

Genworth Financial Inc. sells long-term care coverage and didn’t address that cost in its national study, which was based on information from 15,000 longterm care providers.

Coverage costs are rising as well, Caldwell said, noting that few employers offer help with that expense like they do with retirement planning or more common forms of coverage such as health insurance.

Initial premiums for longterm care coverage can cost well over $2,000 annually, depending on the customer's age, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, which researches health-care issues.

A third of Americans 40 and older have done no planning for their long-term care needs, according to a 2016 Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey.

“There is this aging babyboom population that's going to be really hit hard in the coming decade,” he said. “We need to figure it out.”