A survey done for the John Hancock Life Insurance Co.* found that most Americans worry they will need long-term care at some point after they retire, but only a small number of them are doing anything about it. It says that 85 percent of the people who answered the survey worry that they will need long-term care in the future. This is up from 80 percent a decade ago.
Long-term care covers a wide range of long-term care and supportive services for people who may have problems with their minds or who can't do some of the things they need to do every day for a long time. These can include things like bathing, staying dry, dressing, eating, going to the bathroom, and moving from one place to another. Long-term care can be given in many places, like your home, assisted living centres, or nursing homes. It can be very expensive.
Many Americans have the wrong idea that Medicare or Medicaid will help pay for their long-term care costs. This just isn't true. Some people think they can "trick" the system, but it has become much harder to do this. The Deficit Reduction Act, which was signed into law on February 8, 2006, has made most states change Medicaid and long-term care programmes in big ways. We are closing the holes.
The study also found that almost 60% of the people who took part were worried about how they would pay for long-term care, but almost 70% of these people said they had done little or no planning for long-term care needs. Also, Americans are living longer, health care costs are going up, and pension plans are being cut back by companies. The average cost of nursing home care is now more than $71,000 a year. Because of this, the costs of in-home care are also going up, and it's clear that the rate of increase will stay high in the future. A crisis is coming to America. Americans don't face the truth about what might happen in the future, especially if they need long-term care.
At the moment, Americans seem to be trying to avoid the problem. The survey found that more than 60% of adults have not tried to figure out how much money they will need for retirement. Nearly half of the people who did the math left out long-term care. Nearly four in ten of those who knew about it did nothing.
Long-Term Care Insurance could be an important financial tool that people don't think about enough. A lot of people don't know that this kind of insurance can be made to fit a person's budget and help pay for some of the costs of long-term care. In other words, there are many things that can be changed to fit a person's budget and help with the cost of long-term care needs in the future. Talking to a qualified Long-Term Care Insurance agent can help you come up with a good plan.
Greenwald & Associates took care of the survey.
