What Makes Long Term Care So Important
The health care industry is not overreacting to the long term care (LTC) issue. It’s really an urgent matter which everyone in the country should be paying close attention to if they do not want all of their money to just go to the cost of care.
People are living longer according to statistics and this poses a big problem to the government because a bigger percentage of the population that is at risk of LTC remains without a clear plan. Although a longer life expectancy clearly depicts a healthy nation, it has to be understood that living longer also means susceptibleness to various geriatric diseases.
Despite the fact that very few Americans can imagine themselves in nursing homes, this type of LTC facility is always teeming with senior folks who have developed Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. No matter how healthy a person is at present, there will come a point in his life when he will require care. He will realize that he should have planned his LTC needs once he has lost the ability to perform the ordinary activities of daily living (ADL) owing to old age, a chronic illness, or serious injury.
Unfortunately, many individuals prefer to cross the bridge when they come to it because they think LTC planning is as simple as taking an aspirin to get rid of fever. This explains why the number of impoverished families due to LTC continues to grow.
Don’t Put Your Money in Long Term Care
You do not have to be among those people who used all of their money to cover their LTC expenses or a loved one’s. While you’re young, healthy and still active in the workforce start weighing the options that have been made available to you by financial advisers, LTC specialists, and the government.
Medicaid, which pays for the health care needs of the poor, should not be in your list of choices. You’re better off without it, but if you think you will be short of budget if you will depend solely on your resources for your LTC plan, perhaps looking into the Partnership Program in your state of residence can be of help.
The Partnership Program is a joint endeavor between the government and private insurance companies that market LTCI policies. This Program aims to provide affordable LTCI coverage to each and every individual in the country by allowing them to purchase policies that do not necessarily bear the ideal components such as a long maximum benefit period and very large maximum benefit amount.
Anyone who wishes to buy a Partnership-qualified LTCI policy can opt for limited coverage and in the event that he runs out of benefits, he will be eligible to apply for Medicaid so that he can receive ongoing care.
These days, it does not pay to ignore the cost of long term care because should the day come that you will require it, nobody will pay for your in-home care, assisted living, or nursing home bills. You will be forced to give up everything that you own just to experience quality care.