One Tool to Fight Wisconsin’s High Long Term Care Costs

With long term care (LTC) facilities in Wisconsin getting more expensive every year and the elderly population growing at a speedy rate, it would be impossible for the government to provide LTC coverage for every single Wisconsinite who would require it in the future. Wisconsin long term care insurance should be taken more seriously in this region of the country.

According to the 2010 census of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the total population of senior Wisconsinites 65 years old and older makes up 19% of the state’s total population. Dane and Milwaukee happen to have the highest percentage of elderly folks but only a handful of them have managed to secure a long term care insurance (LTCI) policy which will shoulder their LTC expenses should they require this kind of service in the future.

Fifteen percent of the total population of Dane is made up of the 65 to 84 age group, while 1.5% comprises of senior folks who are 85 years old and older.

These figures are expected to double in 2030 and without a specific LTC plan a big percentage of the state’s elderly residents will resort to Medicaid. Unfortunately, Medicaid is not fit to provide anyone’s exact LTC requirements at this time because it’s still in the process of recuperating from budget deficit.

Research shows that majority of the residents of Wisconsin who are receiving LTC rely on Medicaid. Since the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services imposed the restructure of Medicaid eligibility on every state, Wisconsin’s nursing homes had sent home their elderly residents receiving LTC, or moved them to a community-based LTC facility where they continue to receive Medicaid assistance.

Get the Best Care from Wisconsin Long Term Care Insurance

By investing in a long term care insurance policy, receiving topnotch care from your choice of LTC setting is no doubt an assurance. Besides this, your policy will also protect your assets from being wiped out by the cost of care which is expected to increase twofold in 2025 before it goes up fourfold in 2030.

If you know of a family who pays out $236 a day for their loved one in a private nursing home room, multiply this amount by the factor of four and this will give you $944. Residents of Wisconsin will start paying nursing homes this much beginning 2030. If you are not confident that you can afford it, it’s not too late to start working out a plan.

Although it’s true that an LTCI policy will require you to adjust your lifestyle a bit so that you can manage your annual premium for, perhaps, a period of 20 to 30 years, it will not drain your resources in just a year’s time.

Now if you choose to self-fund, rest assured that it won’t take long before you turn to Medicaid for financial assistance.

Wisconsin long term care insurance should no longer be considered as an optional insurance product but as a necessity. To find out how you can get the right coverage, contact a licensed agent in your area.