Long-Term Care Awareness: What You Need to Know
November is long-term care awareness month, in which we, and other organizations around the country, try to raise awareness of the need for long-term care and long-term care insurance. Most people will need long-term care at some point in their lives, but they either don’t know about long-term care insurance, or they don’t think they’ll need it. They assume their health insurance will cover the costs of long-term care, and while it might cover some of the costs, it won’t even begin to cover all of them. That leaves many people unable to pay for the long-term care they need, and unaware of how much financial trouble they’ll be in until it’s too late.
An Aging Population
Until 2030, 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65 each day, which means the need for long-term care and long-term care insurance are rising dramatically every day. Unfortunately, the number of people buying long-term care insurance is not going up at the same rate, even when people are aware of the need for it. Experts estimate that 7 out of 10 people will need long-term care at some point in their life, yet most of those people don’t have long-term care insurance.
The Costs of Long-Term Care
The costs of long-term care vary based on a variety of factors, including your geographic location and the level of care you require. To give you an idea of what you might need, the median cost for assisted living in 2019 is just over $4,000 per month.
According to a study conducted in 2018, almost 1/3 of respondents surveyed said that long-term care expenses were a top financial concern for them, and more than half (57%) said they needed long-term care insurance, yet only 15% of them had long-term care insurance.
Caregivers
An estimated 80% of long-term care is provided by unpaid caregivers who spend an average of 20 hours per week providing care. Most of the time, that means one of your children or grandchildren is taking care of you and sacrificing their career and/or personal life in order to do so.
It’s also less than ideal for you because your friends and family members are not professional caregivers, which means they’re more likely to make a mistake that could have serious consequences. By making sure you’re covered by long-term care insurance, you can hire a professional to give you the care you need and leave your friends and family members to spend more quality time with you when they visit, instead of worrying about a to-do list.
Medicare and Medicaid
Medicare and Medicaid do cover some of the costs of long-term care, but not every long-term care provider accepts Medicare or Medicaid. Do your research ahead of time to figure out which long-term care providers you’d prefer to use if you end up needing it, and what forms of insurance they accept. Even if they do accept Medicare or Medicaid, chances are those programs will only cover part of your costs, which means you’ll still need long-term care insurance to cover the rest.
Here at Stillwater Senior Living, we treat our residents like family. Our apartments include studio, one bedroom, and two bedroom suites, and we are pet friendly. They are designed with security features, maximum accessibility, and include walk-out patois with a full range of amenities for the entire family.
CONTACT US today for more information and a tour of our beautiful state-of-the-art community.