How Much Do You Really Know About Long-Term Care?

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Chances are 1 in 2 that you or someone you love will need long-term care after age 65.[1] Now is the time to educate and prepare yourself to meet those needs in the years ahead.

Long-term care does not mean nursing home care.
Most of us assume that long-term care simply means care in a nursing home. But that's not the case. The easiest way to understand long-term care is to remember that it is not defined by the setting in which it takes place, but by the type of care that is actually needed.

Long-term care is the type of help you need when you're not able to perform daily activities such as eating, bathing, and dressing by yourself. Typically, it's not provided by doctors or skilled nursing professionals and its goal isn't to cure you of an illness.

Some people do receive long-term care in a nursing home, but the lion's share of care - as much as 85%[2] - takes place in the community. Family members, adult day care centers, and assisted living facilities are among the most common care providers.

Who's most likely to need long-term care?
Long-term care is most often associated with the elderly. And statistics show that Americans who reach age 65 have a one in two chance[3] of needing long-term care at some point in their lives. Today, about 41 of every 1,000 Americans over age 65 are in nursing homes[4], while more than 22.4 million families are involved in long term home care.[5]

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Long-term care is not limited to people over age 65, however. Many working age adults require long-term care due to accidents, injuries or chronic conditions. Many of these people receive care from family members who must continue to work and meet other obligations in addition to caregiving.

Where is long-term care provided?
Remember, it's the type of care and not the setting that matters most. Long-term care can be provided in a variety of settings: at home, in assisted living facilities, in a community setting such as an adult day care center, in hospice home-care programs or facilities, in nursing homes, and more.

What does long-term care cost?
Long-term care services can be very expensive. The current average cost for a year in a nursing home is $56,575, with that figure being twice as high in some parts of the country.[6] Home care can be less expensive, but it still adds up. Bringing an aide into your home five times a week to help with dressing, bathing, preparing meals, and similar household chores can easily cost $2,600 each month or $31,430 a year.[7]

These costs are likely to rise in the years ahead. In fact, long-term care costs are rising at a higher rate than inflation and other health care costs.[8] Experts predict that by the time America's 77 million baby boomers reach their retirement years, costs for long- term care services will have quadrupled.[9]

The Need for Long-Term Care Affects Everyone Involved
Whether you need care yourself, or you find yourself in the position of caregiver, the impact of long-term care can affect your entire family. Family members and friends are sole caregivers for 70 percent of elderly people who need care. Three-fourths of caregivers are women, and two-thirds of them work outside the home.[10] Over half of them report missing work an average of one day a month, going to work late, leaving early, worrying about finances, and giving up promotions, personal time, and even family vacations. Most of all, caregivers experience stress and fatigue. One in five reported either temporarily or permanently leaving their jobs.[11]

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Caregivers, or those in need of long-term care, often must sacrifice savings earmarked for college tuition, retirement or nest eggs they have planned to leave behind for family members. When funds are exhausted, many in need of long-term care are forced into nursing homes because that's the primary type of care funded by Medicaid.

A long-term care need can happen to anyone. Most associate long-term care with the elderly, however people of all ages can have these same needs as a result of auto or sports accidents or a debilitating disease.

Consider the lifestyle changes working-aged individuals and their families may face:

• annual nursing home costs of $40,000 to $80,000[12] (depending on where the individual lives)
• liquidation of valuable family assets
• decisions about where care can/will be received
• the possibility of a family member assuming some caregiving responsibilities

Having long-term care insurance can help preserve your assets, and allow you to have choices - including staying at home - because most long-term care policies can provide benefits for home health care.

1, 3 Conning & Company, Long-term care Insurance, "Baby Boom or Bust?" 1999. - 2 The American Health Care Association, "Contemporary long-term care," 11/98 - 4, 5 The American Council of Life Insurance, Insurance Facts, 1998 - 6, 7, 12 Met Life Mature Market Institute, July 2000 - 8, 9 The American Council of Life Insurance, "Can Aging Boomers Avoid the Nursing Home?" 2000. - 10, 11 National Alliance for Caregiving/AARP, 1997.

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