Long Term Care Insurance

What are the odds that you would need Long Term Care Insurance?

As much as one wishes that one would never need long-term care, statistics relating to long-term care requirement are in favor of planning for one's long-term needs through insurance. 

• At least 40% of people above the age of 65 will need long-term care. By 2020, 12 million senior Americans are expected to need long-term care.
• A year at the nursing home could cost as much as $60,000 in larger cities. About 10% of all people seeking health care in a nursing home are likely to stay there for a minimum of 5 years, affecting nursing home bills exponentially.
• A home health aide visiting could charge as much as $52.
• Specialized nursing at home, which could include giving medication or administering oxygen, could be billed at $24,440 a year.
• Medicaid, which covers home health care and nursing home care kicks in only when you have declared yourself and your spouse "poor"; it comes with no small loss of dignity.
• Medicare payments in case of hospital stays can stop according to the Prospective Payment System. In such instances patients are released from the Medicare-certified hospital regardless of the patient's condition.
• Even when the patient is recuperating in a nursing home after being coercively discharged from the hospital. Medicare coverage is puny, just 2% of the bill.

By insuring your long-term care needs you would be bringing down these medial expenses to a manageable amount, ensuring that you get care in the manner that "you prefer" and in a location of your choice.