Understanding long Term Care
A Insurance Article Contributed by Shobha Cutting
What is long Term Care
Long term care is the assistance that is needed to help you perform everyday tasks (activities of daily living- ADL's) that you are no longer able to do on your own on account of physical disability caused by an accident, disease or medical condition or ageing. The impairment could also be mental.
People may need assistance in doing everyday tasks like moving from one place to another, eating, bathing, dressing, preparing their meals, shopping, doing laundry, cleaning their dwellings and other activities of everyday life. The caregivers may be informal, comprising members of your family and friends or they could be professional paramedics. Such long term care may be provided at your home or at a nursing home, depending on the type of care needed.
Long term care can be funded solely or partially by a long term insurance cover. Most insurance plans allow you to choose the amount of protection you want and the way in which you would like to use these benefits. A good plan includes all levels of care and use of all types of facilities.
Medicare cannot be relied upon to take care of long term care. To avail of long term care through Medicaid for the aged or disabled people, one must first consume their own and their spouses assets. Medicare is designed to provide short term care for people recovering from acute illness and not long term care to recover from chronic illness.
What long Term Care is Not
Long term care is not the type of short term rehabilitation care you need in a hospital or doctor's clinic, to recover from injury or illness. More than 80% of recipients of long term care need help provided in their homes so they can perform activities of daily life.
Health insurance is not designed to provide long term care. Health insurance policies limit the duration and the circumstances in which nursing home care can be claimed. Home health care or adult day care is usually not covered by health insurance. If provided, health insurance lays down stringent conditions and limits to this cover.
Some Myths about long Term Care
· That I'm too young: Some 40% of the people receiving long term care are between 18 and 64 years old. People in any age group may develop medical conditions that will prevent them from performing daily activities and call for long term care. Should that happen, long term care insurance provisions will help protect your assets.
· My family will take care of me: That may not be possible today when ladies of the house want to join the workforce and children may settle anywhere in the country or in fact anywhere in the world.
· Medicaid and Medicare will pay my bills: As already said earlier, Medicare is not designed to provide long term care and Medicaid will expect you and your spouse to consume your assets first, before they will assist.
· I can save enough to take care of such eventualities: Available statistics put the average nursing home stay of 2.6 years, availed of by people and the cost of a semi private room annually is going to be $ 190,600 by the year 2030, which probably is the time when you will need long term care, if you have recently joined the workforce. The average cost of homecare (5 hours per day, 5 days a week) is expected to go to $68,000 annually, by the year 2030.
Should you be unfortunate and need these services, can you pay for them out of pocket? Even if you have the money, would you like to spend your money thus?
