Why Long-Term Care Planning is an Important Topic:
Most of us can expect to need long-term care as we grow older. We may suffer from a disabling accident, chronic illness or simply grow old enough to be unable to care for ourselves. Long Term Care insurance is just one way to pay for the cost of care. Many Americans use this type of insurance as a way to cover future long-term care costs, and protect their assets and their families. The goal of long-term care is to help you maintain your lifestyle as you age. Medicare, Medicare supplement insurance, and the health insurance you may have at work usually won’t pay for long-term care. The need for long-term care impacts the entire family, not just the person requiring care. For example, if your son or daughter is taking care of you, it may bring you closer together in some way. But providing that care can be time-consuming, stressful, or exhausting for a caregiver. It also takes them away from their own obligations including their children, their spouses, and their job. Long Term Care Insurance can provide the money needed to hire a professional caregiver, thereby relieving family members of this obligation.
Statistics:
- 7 of 10 people over the age of 65 will need some type of long-term care support.
- 66% of caregivers used their own retirement and savings funds to pay for care.
- 100% of their families are affected in some way.
- Someone turning age 65 today has almost a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care services and supports in their remaining years
- Women need care longer (3.7 years) than men (2.2 years)
- One-third of today’s 65-year-olds may never need long-term care support, but 20 percent will need it for longer than 5 years
What are the factors that affect who needs long-term care?
- Age: As you get older, the more likely you will need long-term care.
- Gender: Since women often live longer than men, they have a greater likelihood of needing long-term care.
- Family & Housing Situation: People who live alone are more likely to need care from a paid caregiver.
- Health: Having a chronic health condition like diabetes or high blood pressure or a family history of them may increase your risk.
- Lifestyle: Poor diet and lack of exercise may increase your risk.
Types of Long-Term Care:
You have multiple options for long-term care, from home and community care services to facilities that help care for you 24 hours a day/7 days a week.
1 -HOME & COMMUNITY CARE SERVICES
Home care services allow you to live in your own home or to return to your home by helping you complete activities of daily living that you can’t manage alone. Adult daycare is an option that provides a program of therapeutic and social services in a community group setting through an adult daycare center.
2-FACILITY CARE SERVICES
Facility care services include assisted living facilities that offer on-site support for carrying out the activities of daily living, and nursing facilities that offer more intensive care related to patient supervision, therapies, rehabilitation, and medication.
Costs:
Long-term care can be expensive, and the costs are expected to rise even higher. With medical and technological advances, we are living better, healthier, and longer lives. It is because of this longevity that we might need someone to help take care of us later in life. Living a long life has become a reality. Planning for it has become a necessity.
Monthly Median Costs: National (2021)
In-Home care:
$4,957 – Homemaker Services
$5,148 – Home Health Aide
Community & Assisted Living:
$1,690 – Adult Day Health care
$4,500 – Assisted Living Facility
Nursing Home Facility:
$7,908 – Semi-Private Room
$9,034 – Private Room
Genworth Cost of Care Survey, conducted by CareScout®, November 2021
The earlier in life you start to plan the more likely you are to succeed in fully protecting yourself and your family. For more information, talk to our friends at JJ Wealth Advisors. They, like Sunways are committed to helping families.
