A 65-year-old person today has a nearly 70% chance of requiring long-term care services at some point, according to the Administration for Community Living (ACL) and the Administration on Aging (AOA). Of that group, 20% will need that long term care for over five years. The average cost of a semi-private room is $100,000/ year. Moreover, 50% of senior couples fall into poverty or go bankrupt after only 1 year of a spouse being in a long term care facility. These facts should really be making you think... I should be looking into some long term care insurance!

I am a Registered Nurse in an Acute Care Hospital where I am Patient Care Coordinator, also known as Discharge Planner. I assist patients and their families to prepare a safe discharge plan and transition from the hospital back to home. More often than not, I see families unprepared and taken aback by how the long term care system works in the United States and who pays for it. The fact that is most commonly misconstrued is what Medicare coverage pays for. Medicare only pays for short term stays with SKILLED needs like Physical, Occupational or Speech Therapy, specific nursing needs like wound care or IV antibiotics or a feeding tube. Patients and their loved ones alike are absolutely amazed by the fact that Medicare does not pay for a "caregiver" or Custodial care (unskilled care such as bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, etc) for their loved ones. Caregivers of this caliber are paid out of pocket by the patient or family. If you are under a certain income bracket, you may qualify for Medi-Cal (in CA,) or MediCaid, for some in-home care hours but it will be very limited and will not cover many other necessities or facilites. Your income will also need to be very low to meet these standards and you can have little to no savings or assets.

I see instances daily where family members come in and are no longer able to care for their loved ones due to chronic diseases, such as advanced Alzheimer's Dementia, Congestive Heart Failure, COPD or even Cancer. Maybe the caregiver needs to go back to work or the patient is just too clinically complex for the family member to handle at home alone. The answer to all of the above scenarios would've been long term care insurance purchased at a younger age in preparation for the future. This would have alleviated the stress on this caregiver and patient, at least financially and definitely emotionally and mentally. This would have allowed for this caregiver to hire additional paid help to allow for them to return to work, this would allow for this caregiver to place his or her loved ones in a B&C or assisted living of their choice when the needs became too much or help at home.

Long Term Care policies are comprehensive and will cover the expenses that Medicare does not, as stated above. Costs that it pays for include:

- In-home care by your family or a paid caregiver - care to include assistance with ADLs, like bathing, toileting or dressing.

- Care coordination

- Assisted living facilities or B&C facilities

- Non Skilled or Custodial nursing home care

- Adult day care services

Certain factors will affect your eligibility, such as a pre-existing medical condition, such as dementia or Parkinson’s disease. To follow are reasons to invest in Long Term Care insurance of some kind:

While you can get an estimate, it’s hard to pinpoint the exact price you’ll pay for long-term care but it is known that long-term care is incredibly expensive. Genworth estimates that the median costs for in-home care, assisted living facilities and nursing home facilities all exceed $50,000 per year. As a result, it’s wise to evaluate how you would pay for your potential long-term care needs, if you were to need them. Relying on Medicare or Medicaid could leave you at a financial loss. Medicare won’t help with the costs of permanent and ongoing care. Likewise, Medicaid has its limitations, namely its income guidelines and the level of care needed to qualify. A long term care insurance policy ensures you don’t have to drain all your savings or spend or get rid of your assets to be eligible for financial help. And, it takes the financial burden off of your family by safeguarding the remaining retirement assets.

We all have an ideal future as we age and/ or a plan for what life will look like as we retire. Purchasing a long-term care insurance policy ensures you have a safety net installed into your financial plan for the future. It can be incredibly costly to pay for long-term care out of pocket. And while Medicaid can help pay for specific costs, such as non-skilled nursing home care (Custodial Care,) and a few in-home care service hours (IHSS,) it definitely won’t pay for everything. For example, it will not cover an Assisted Living, a B&C or a caregiver at home if you're above the income range of Medicaid. Long-term care insurance ensures you can pay for the type of care you want and need when the time comes. You can use it to supplement the savings you already have.

Naturally, most of us would like to stay in our own homes throughout our senior years. But with the likelihood of needing long-term care, that can put a strain on our loved ones. As a result, family members, partners and friends often take on the caregiver role. According to the American Association of Retired Persons’ (AARP) data, one in three caregivers provides care completely alone. Many of which go unpaid despite caring for recipients with complex support and medical needs. If you’re considering long-term care insurance, think about the future you see for yourself and your potential caregiver. What does the impact look like on their life? There will be financial and emotional burdens in addition to the physical aspect of the work. They may also need to quit their job? Or find care for their own children as well. By purchasing a long term care policy, you ensure there are available finances to pay for outside help. This will lighten the load and decrease the burden financially and otherwise on yourself and your future caregiver.

Each and every person’s financial situation is different. If you have little funds during your senior years, you may qualify for Medicaid. This option offers fewer choices, but it does provide funding for low-income individuals. If you have savings or any assets, as previously mentioned, you will not qualify for Medicaid. On the other hand, if you fall between the two ends of the financial spectrum, then long-term care insurance is definitely worth considering. It protects your retirement savings from pricey and unexpected medical costs, ensures choice in care and offers you and your family peace of mind.

In conclusion, Long Term Care insurance helps maintain control of where and how care is received, helps protect assets and personal savings from the high cost of long term care expenses, helps preserve quality of life - especially in retirement, helps support the care provided by loved ones, gains you access to a professional care coordinator in a time of crisis, helps with planning for the future and most of all helps maintain your independence during a trying time.  If you plan on getting old in America, the first thing I would suggest would be to look into getting long term care insurance.