Long-Term Care: A Personal Story

This week EK Agency gave me the liberty to write about the importance of long-term care insurance.  I wanted to give some examples from statistics and personal observations drawn from real life and my medical experience to bring you Long-Term Care: A Personal Story. 

 

Older generation and some cultures bring their aging parents back into their home and care for them to the end of their days.  Today, this is almost impossible.  Many households require two incomes, advancements in medicine require more complex treatments and dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease making care for these patients a 24/7, 365 days a year task.  You love your parents but sometimes the right thing to do is to find them care where they can receive the attention and medical monitoring they need and most all, to keep them safe.  This brings about the hard choice, where should I place my parents?  So you and your family begin the search for the right retirement or skilled nursing facility for your loved one.      

 

In the State of Ohio, in 2013, an Assisted Living Facility, one private bedroom, costs $40,040 a year.  This cost typically comes with some amenities but there will be additional costs.  In 2013, a semi-private room in a Nursing Home was $74,460 per year and a private room; $82,125 a year.  Medicare will pay up to 100 days of some of your parent’s long-term care costs, other than that, patients are self-pays or are placed in State facilities and their assets are dissolved to pay for their care. 

 

Now consider the remaining lifespan of your loved one.  Here’s where the Long-Term Care: A Personal Story comes into this discussion on LTC insurance.  My strong-willed, brave and wonderful Grandmother was a resident in a long-term care facility for 13 years.  He had been in and out of hospice care a few times.  She received wonderful care through a local, private assisted-living and nursing facility.  To demonstrate the out-of-pocket cost, let’s look at what is cost for quality care for a loved one like my Grandmother.  If you do the math, $82,000/year times 13 years totals…are you ready…$1,066,000.00.  This is 13 years of basic nursing care expenses.  This does not include durable medical equipment, medication and other healthcare needs.  This does not also take into consideration the cost and quality of the facility.  As you can see, if you loved one remained in a facility for an extended amount of time, the cost is astronomical.  Even if your loved one lived only 6 years in the same facility, the cost would be $492,000.  How do you prepare your loved ones for their golden years and still afford quality care for them?  Long-term care costs are also expected to rise faster than the rate of inflation.   The answer is long-term care insurance.

 

Long-term care insurance typically ranges from 2 to 6 years of coverage and typically covers $265/day in expenses.  Another key component of LTC coverage is inflation coverage.  A good standard is 5% compound inflation guard.  This means your LTC benefits will increase 5% per year.  This protects against the rise on LTC costs.  For more information contact Etler-Kettenacker Agency today.  To get the best rate, purchase LTC coverage while you are young and healthy.  I hope my personal story, Long-Term Care: A Personal Story, about my loved one has inspired you to call EK Agency and find out more about LTC insurance.  It could save you and your family your life’s savings and ensure you will receive the best care possible.