While many of us may end up needing at-home care, to live in a nursing home, or an assisted living center, it is highly unlikely that we will receive state assistance with this care. Most insurance plans do not cover it, including Medicaid and Medicare. Nursing homes are incredibly expensive, and at-home care, once you’ve paid for nurses, housekeepers, therapists, etc, can be almost as much. Just a couple of years worth of care will be enough to deplete the average savings account. Most people simply cannot afford this out of pocket.
Statistically, the average woman today stands twice as much of a chance as a man of spending time in a nursing home. Women statistically live longer than men, and spend more money on assisted living care.
In many cases, while family and loved ones would like to help, often they are not financially equipped to do so. Even in the cases where family members can act as housekeepers and caregivers; often the patient needs medical care, therapists, etc, and they can be very costly.
Health rarely improves with age, so it is a reasonable expectation that you will need some form of assistance in your elderly years. Unfortunately, long-term care insurance cannot be purchased spur of the moment, at the onset of a crisis or when health starts to deteriorate. You must already have a plan in place for the long-term.
Long-term insurance care enables the patient to have a sense of independence, to remain at home or to utilize the use of nursing homes or assisted living facilities without the fear of going bankrupt from the astronomical costs. It is a good plan to implement before it is too late.
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