3 in 4 Need More, Hub of Care

November is Long-Term Care Awareness Month, the perfect time to reflect on one’s future health care needs and how to finance it. Leaders of the long term care insurance (LTCI) industry are busy educating individuals and organizations around the country on the importance of planning their future through the 3 in 4 Need More awareness campaign which is sponsored by the 3in4 Association. Top LTCI carriers in the country partook in the said campaign with high hopes of making every single citizen in the country realize the importance of having a definite long term care (LTC) plan. Having witnessed the financial ordeal of their grandparents as they received LTC has stirred up fear of aging in many young members of the workforce. As they watched how the prohibitive cost of care ate up all the assets of their grandparents, they now wonder if they are working hard enough for their future’s sake. Unfortunately, no amount of work will ever prepare one for the continuously soaring cost of care. Everybody has to invest in a good LTC plan that will serve as hedge against pricey LTC services. Your health insurance cannot be considered a good LTC plan as it won’t provide you LTC coverage in the event that you develop a chronic illness or unfortunately figure in an accident and never get to functioning normally again. Health insurance only covers medical treatments and not custodial care which includes assistance in the activities of daily living (ADL) such as eating, bathing, toileting, dressing, transferring, and continence. Once an accident, a sickness or a geriatric disease hinders a person from performing any of the ADL mentioned above, he has to acquire LTC which is very expensive. What makes it unreasonably expensive is the fact that a person may need three to 10 years of care. 3 in 4 Need More LTC Education According to Genworth Financial’s 2011 Cost of Care Survey, the national median annual rate for a nursing home is $77,745 while the monthly rate of a one-bedroom assisted living facility is $3,261. If you were to receive five years of care in a nursing home, can you afford to fork out a total of $388,725? I thought so. Even if there are statistics that show that the average length of stay of an elderly in a nursing home is three years, you cannot be so sure that you’ll be out of this LTC facility in that span of time. Some patients such as those with Alzheimer’s spend a longer time in nursing homes and thus spend a bigger chunk of their money. According to financial advisors, if you have assets that amount to over $2,000,000 then you can definitely finance your LTC. However, average office employees and small businessmen have to take a good look at the current and future costs of care and review their plans. If the current cost of care is overwhelming, what more when it multiplies by four in 2030? Spare yourself and your family from financial losses by coming up with an intelligent LTC plan. If you don’t know where to start, you can heed the advice of everybody behind the 3 in 4 Need More campaign.