Why Long Term Care is a Hot Issue
Even today’s 10-year-olds will require long term care (LTC) someday but that is a long way down the road so there is no point discussing it yet. Right now the focus is on baby boomers as majority of them are bound to require a certain level of care beginning 2030.
Demographers say the youngest baby boomer will turn 65 years old sometime 2030 so all the members of the said generation are expected to be armed with LTC plans when that time comes so that they won’t be caught off-guard by the anticipated fourfold cost of care. Unfortunately, only 10 million Americans have successfully managed to secure long term care insurance (LTCI) policies and the majority of them are not even baby boomers.
Note how LTCI was specially mentioned above and that’s because there is no other type of health care plan that can provide exactly what this type of insurance product can, which is easy access to high quality LTC and financial protection.
Some LTC plans will allow people to receive care in exchange of their homes, or worse, their entire estate. Individuals who did not wait for the age of 60 before planning their future health care needs are aware of what LTC costs can do to their assets and families, but the sad fact is that they’re only small in number.
Starting a Long Term Care Plan
Working out an LTC plan will not only benefit the planner but his entire family, as well. Without such plan an individual will neither be able to receive the level of care which is suitable for his health needs nor can he protect his family from possible impoverishment.
Baby boomers that are still active at work are advised to speak with an elder care specialist, a financial adviser or LTCI specialist as this is the first step to clinching a plan. If they continue to support the belief that the equity of their homes will manage to pull them out of the financial hole in case they fall in, this will only lead to irreparable damages in their lives.
An effective LTC plan is based on the cost of care in the planner’s place of residence. Given this fact, any individual who is thinking of planning his LTC anytime soon should start looking into his future health care needs so that he would know exactly which LTC setting to choose and consider for his LTC plan.
By referring to your present health condition, which you can only find out through your physician, and family’s health history you can easily tell if you are going to require years of care or not. Should your doctor inform you that your chances of acquiring nursing home care in the future are high, conduct a research and find out how much the nursing homes in your area will cost 20 or 30 years from now.
Long term care costs are going up so fast but with a well thought out plan these should not incite fear.
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