Long Term Care Awareness Leads to Planning

Last year, a nationwide campaign to promote the importance of long term care (LTC) planning took center stage. Dubbed as 3 in 4 Need More, the campaign which was led by Dr. Marion Somers, renowned elder care specialist and book author, had awakened residents of various states to the options which they can consider for their LTC. Few weeks after the campaign took off the industry saw the number of long term care insurance (LTCI) policyholders increase so quickly. This goes to show that complete LTC information, education, true-to-life stories, and some freebees are necessary to get people to plan their future health care needs. Prior to the campaign, majority of the population thought LTC is an optional matter which they can simply brush off. As soon as they learned about the annual cost of a nursing home, an assisted living facility, and home care they suddenly had a change of heart. There are more people planning their LTC these days than there were couple of years ago. Still, uninsured individuals continue to outnumber the insured. If you ask the former why they remain without a concrete plan for the possibility of needing care in the future, they say they can’t afford LTCI policies. It can be recalled that during the LTC campaign, Dr. Marion said you can plan your LTC with an LTCI policy or with reverse mortgage. With the latter you don’t have to fork out money every year to sustain your coverage, but your home can no longer be passed on to your children or loved ones in the event of your passing as it is already sold. Now if you choose to buy an LTCI policy you will not only be able to keep your house and pass it on to your family afterwards, you can also receive care in your choice of LTC setting. 3 in 4 Need More LTC Talks Maybe if an LTC campaign was held every year, it would be easier for everybody to plan their LTC needs. Most grownups are, after all, no different than kids as they have to be constantly reminded of what they have to do. If someone like Dr. Marion goes up the platform each year to remind the nation that Medicaid only provides limited LTC services and that Medicare does not cover custodial care, perhaps every working individual will eventually absorb the importance of having a plan for their future health care needs. Thirteen years from now the cost of care will double before it quadruples in 2030. When that time comes only about 10 million Americans will manage to receive care without depleting their assets because their LTCI policies will definitely take care of them. On the other hand, the uninsured population will be left with no choice but to turn over all of their properties to estate recovery. 3 in 4 need more information about the factors that affect the price of an LTCI policy because it appears that only a handful of consumers understand that the premium of a specific coverage would depend on what the buyer and insurer had agreed upon.