Long-Term Care Insurance - A Reality Check
The typical baby boomer: "I'll get long-term care insurance when I'm old." "Uh-oh, I am old!"
Now that baby boomers are maturing in age, or at least in their 50's and 60's, it's time to get long-term care insurance (LTCi). IF YOU CAN GET IT.
A client, healthy by most standards, 60 years old, slender, works out 2-3 times per week, and eats mostly vegetarian was deemed uninsurable due to her accumulated medical history. We're now getting ready to make application to the fourth carrier and hope for a "rated policy" vs. the dreaded "uninsurable." Don't wait till you are uninsurable!!!
Why get a LTCi policy?
1. Science is successful in making many of us long lived.
2. If we live a long life, we're going to be old.
3. If we're old, we're going to need help.
4. The cost of help, either at a long-term care facility or in your home, is significant.
LTCi typically kicks in when medical documentation determines that a person can no longer care for themselves and is unable to perform the basic activities of daily living (ADLs) which normally includes bathing, dressing, eating, transferring (bed to chair, etc.), toileting, maintaining continence and walking and/or if there is a cognitive impairment of which the classic example is Alzheimer's disease.
In 2006 while the average cost for nursing home care was $194 per day, in New York City the cost was $385 per day. Receiving long-term care benefits in your home can be at least as expensive if it is around the clock.
LTCi can help reduce
1. The burden if the role of caregiver falls on a spouse, family member or loved one.
2. A financial disaster as little protection is available to the household's net worth.
Mother, 57 years old, to her daughter: "Will you take care of me when I'm old?" Daughter: "Yes, I'll get you into the best nursing home that your money can provide."
Heard at a LTCi Seminar: Speaker: "How many people here have only sons?" Audience: About 25% of the audience raises their hands. Speaker: "Make your reservations now with a long-term care facility."* *Statistically, sons are not willing to be caregivers to their aging parents.
|
|
