What We Don’t Know About Long Term Care – Is A Lot

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The most common reason why people ignore the significance of long-term care planning is denial, majority of Americans think that they will not need any long-term care services. Another reason is the increasing cost of long-term care insurance premiums, not realizing that they might be incurring large out-of pocket expenses for ltc services. Most of the times, those who seek long-term care think about the cost of care only when the need arises and at this point, it is already too late to purchase a long-term care insurance because it is either you will be declined, or the cost of premium will be too high.

If we think of relying on spouses or children or other family members to provide care for us, think again, would you want to be a burden to your loved ones? You will leave them stressed and devastated not only physically but also emotionally and financially because caregiving is an enormous task. In addition, you will be leaving them broke because the cost of long-term care services are too high that it can drain even an ample amount of savings.

Relying on medicaid and medicare is not wise because medicare does not necessarily cover long-term care, while with medicaid, you have to spend down all your assets to become eligible. It doesn’t even assure that we will get quality care when we need it and where we need it.

The Long Term Care Guy Blog

Americans over 40 — in other words, us — are dangerously unaware of our likely need for long-term care when we age and woefully ignorant about the costs, according to a new poll of adults in midlife and beyond.

 
The telephone survey of 1,019 boomers over age 40 was conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and financed by the non-profit SCAN Foundation, which supports research and other initiatives on aging and health care. It found that many older Americans had barely begun to think about their long-term care needs, nevermind put aside money to cover them. For example, nearly 31 percent of respondents said getting older was something they’d rather not think about.

Following are other highlights from the poll, along with advice available on Next Avenue to help you avoid falling short when the time comes.

Only 16 percent of…

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Getting Familiar with the Long Term Care Insurance Cost

 

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Being in the know of the long term care insurance cost would be helpful when thinking about plans for you and your family’s future and ensuring issues, especially regarding financial matters. Keeping in mid the possibilities that could happen in one’s life, it would be reasonable if you are already looking for the possible long term care insurances and their costs available near your place. Most people needing long term care could actually have it at home which they usually prefer, since the nursing homes are primarily for people who have illnesses more severe that they really need to be attended to most of the time.

 

Though long term care insurance policies cover the expenses of the long term care, it is still up to you where you prefer to have the long term care, which would adjust with the other conditions and terms of the policy. The rates of the long term care differ in every service needed and place where it will be received. Though, it also depends on your health conditions to what long term care service will be available to you. Even though you cannot perform two or more activities of the daily life, your health conditions must still qualify to acquire the other services as well.

 

Regarding the long term care costs, there are some things that must be looked into when judging the expenses. There are the professionals who would provide the long term care needed, the facilities that will be used according to what you will need, and the place where you prefer to be – at your own home or a nursing home. It might be overwhelming to think about how you could pay for all of those things that you will need, but you have more time to think about it, especially if you start to prepare for it and think about it a few years before you even approach the retirement age.

 

Know that you will be paying long term care insurance and they will cover in the future the expenses that you will need to acquire. But getting an idea of the rates of the services offered isn’t really a bad thing. Knowing the place where you want to get the long term care has also a great impact on the price you are going to pay. For an example, according to http://www.forbes.com, home health aides in Louisiana costs $9 an hour but $19 in New Hampshire. While according to http://www.longtermcare.info, in 2010, it costs about $205 per day in a semi-private room in a nursing home and about $229 in a private room. The homemaker services costs $21 per hour and it costs $67 per day in an adult day health care center.

 

The other rates will also vary depending on the duration of the care that you need. Some also consider the time of day and if there are any extra services that should be provided for you by the long term care.

 

But when thinking of computing/paying the long term care insurance cost, do not forget that there is the concept of inflation that should also be thought of since the prices are ever changing and it could affect the investment that you are trying to purchase.

 

Source:

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2011/10/25/the-rising-cost-of-long-term-care-services/

http://www.medicare.gov/longtermcare/static/TypesOverview.asp

http://longtermcare.gov/costs-how-to-pay/costs-of-care/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2013/05/22/why-baby-boomers-need-to-get-real-about-health-and-long-term-care-costs-in-retirement/

How is “Typical Aging” Different from “Warning Signs” of Dementia?

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A lot of adult children are struggling in dealing with parents who have alzheimer’s disease, for some, they find out too late that their parents or loved ones are already suffering from this chronic illness so it is therefore important to look for the warning signs. A common sign of aging is forgetfulness, however, if it becomes too frequent and you also notice signs of disorientation to time and place and unpredictable moods, you should be alarmed. It is always best to consult a physician so he can run a series of cognitive exams. A lot of long-term care dependents suffer from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, it would be helpful if we are aware of the symptoms of the disease and we are knowledgeable on how to deal and manage it.