The potential for needing long-term care is the single greatest risk you face in planning for a sound financial future.
Allison Warner, President of AM Warner Insurance, can help to protect your future. But first, let us answer your questions about Why Is It A Problem? The cost of long-term care
The costs of long-term care vary greatly depending on where you live and the type of care that you receive. People may think that home care costs less than nursing home care. Home care can cost just as much, if not more, than nursing home care.
The cost of long-term care in the home depends on what type of care you need and for how many hours per day. The impact of long-term care is not just a financial one. The can be just as devastating. Some issues to consider on cost are:
To learn more about these factors and how they affect you, click on the cost factor above to go to another page for additional details. How to pay for long-term care
Once you need care, where will the money come from to pay for it? There are four options available to pay for long-term care:
• - Most people are under the impression that Medicare will pay for their long-term care when it is needed. Unfortunately, that is not altogether accurate. Medicare is one of the most misunderstood government programs in defining what is actually covered for long-term care services.
• - This program is medical welfare and designed for people who cannot otherwise pay for their medical care. Eligibility rules are complicated and limited to those with limited income and assets.
•
You can rely on others (spouse, children, etc.) to provide the help needed. This option is available if you have family members who have the time and skills to provide the type of care that is needed.
Your Savings
You can self-insure and pay for your own long-term care with your own assets and income. One thing to keep in mind is the . Are you sure your assets will be sufficient to provide for your care? Are there other things you'd rather do with your money?
You can transfer a predetermined amount of risk of long-term care to an insurance company, by purchasing Long Term Care Insurance.
Click on the underlined links above to learn more about how you can pay for long-term care.
Learn More Details About Your Personal Risks and Potential Problems
Our aging population
We are living much longer now then we ever did before due in part to new medications and medical enhancements. Along with living longer, our odds for needing long-term care may increase. Just because your family members didn't need care doesn't mean that you won’t. Family members may not have lived long enough to require long-term care. Many diseases can now be controlled with medication allowing us to live longer than in the past.
"The 85+ population is projected to increase from 4.2 million in 2000 to 8.9 million in 2030."
A Profile of Older Americans: 2001 Administration on Aging, US Department of Health and Human Services.
"People 65 and older -- todays elders -- number 35 million, or 13% of our population. In contrast, the bay boom generation numbers 76 million. In just 28 years, 55 million people are projected to be 65 years or older, or 17% of our population -- one in six Americans."
Seattle Times June 26, 2002.
Your risk for long-term care
While many people need long-term care, it is important not to overlook that young people can need long-term care too. It is never too early to plan for your future long-term care needs.
Some common reasons that young people can need long-term care are: strokes, Parkinson's disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and accidents. Almost 40% of the people under the age of 65 will experience some sort of disability.
As you age, the likelihood of having a disability increases. It is not uncommon for younger people to develop a .
Approximately 40% of the 13 million Americans currently receiving long-term care benefits are between the ages of 18 and 65.
Fitch, "Long-Term Care: An Industry in Transition", January 18, 2002.
40% of those receiving long-term care are working-age adults, ages 18-64, due to accidents, strokes, brain injuries or tumors, mental conditions, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and even early onset of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Tilly, Jane, et al. "Long-Term Care Chart Book: Persons Served, Payers, and Spending", The Urban Institutes, May 5, 2000.
People may have a hard time admitting that they could need long-term care because they associate long-term care with nursing homes. None of us can imagine ourselves being in a nursing home. In fact, we may live our lives promising our parents that we will never put them in a nursing home. A nursing home is the last place we would like to receive care.
The good new is that a nursing home is probably the last place you will have to go. Today, there are many options that weren't available before. Now it is possible to stay at home or live in an assisted care facility, rather than go to a nursing home. People are more realistic about seeing themselves needing long-term care in their home.
Most people receiving benefits from a long-term care policy use home health aides and homemaker services so they can continue to live at home (70%).
"Passing the Trust to Private Long-term Care Insurance." January 2003. p. 19. American Council of Life Insurers.
The average length of care needed
It would be wonderful to have a crystal ball so you would know how long you would need long-term care. You can look at some statistics to see what some of the nursing home "averages" are, but that is no guarantee that if you needed long-term care you wouldn't be "above average", or "below average".
| Length of Stay |
% of Nursing Home Patients |
| Less than 3 months |
17.8% |
| 3 to 6 months |
10.1% |
| 6-12 months |
14.8% |
| 1-3 years |
30.3% |
| 3-5 years |
13.6% |
| Five or more years |
14.0% |
Source: The National Nursing Home Survey, National Center for Health Statistics, US Department of Health and Human Services. June 2002. There have been a lot of studies on the average length of stay in a nursing home, but it is difficult to get studies that show how long people need care in an assisted care facility or in their home.
In the last 15 years, the number of people using assisted living facilities has grown dramatically from about 150,000 residents in 1985 to 1.2 million in 2000. Over the same period, use of home health care has more than doubled.
“Passing the Trust to Private Long-term Care Insurance.” January 2003. p. 24. American Council of Life Insurers.
Allison Warner the President of AM Warner Insurance can help personalize this information and give you one-on-one guidance based on your personal background and concerns. to learn more about your long-term care needs and how Long Term Care Insurance may be your best option.
Nationwide Referrals
AM Warner Insurance is licensed to provide insurance products in Kentucky and Indiana. If you are outside this area, a referral to an agent in your area is available; all you need to do is , and we'll have someone contact you right away. We provide referrals nationwide!
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No one wants to think about the time that they will need long-term care. We all want to believe that only other people will need care, and that we won’t. Because we don't think it will happen to us, we are often reluctant to plan ahead for future long-term care needs. The reality is that there is a strong possibility that you will need some type of long-term care at some point in your life. Let's look at some of the factors involved.