Planning for Long-Term Care
(LTC)
At least 70% of Americans over
65 years will need some long-term care services at some point. Most
people think that Medicare and private health insurance will cover their
long-term care needs, but this is not generally the case. The cost
to our country of long-term care provided federally amounts to well over
$240 billion, and is on the increase, as our nation becomes a weighted
‘senior society’.
The majority of long-term
care needs are for the non-medical personal care that is not covered by
Medicare, therefore, it is essential you consider how you would manage
the administering of long-term care for family, or yourself, should this
be necessary as you age.
What is long-term care?
Long-term care is defined as
the care an individual needs for an extended period of time if they are
unable to care for themselves. This can be due to a serious illness,
an accident or most commonly due to the aging process.
The majority of long-term
services needed are basically what is classified as non-skilled personal
care, help with everyday care tasks such as bathing, dressing, toileting,
moving around and eating. These are commonly referred to as Activities
of Daily Living or ADLs.
The primary aim of long-term
care is to provide assistance with everyday living in order to help maintain
independent living for as long as possible. In most cases people
wish to have long-term care in their own home.
Medicare and private health
insurance generally only pays for acute care, that is nursing care or home
care after a hospital stay, and only for a limited time. The acute care
they cover is defined as care for something you will recover from. Long-term
care is classed as chronic care, this means it is ongoing and long-lasting.
This is where some form of planning for the possibility of long-term care
needs in your senior years is vitally important.
What does Long-term care cost?
As long-term care can be anything
from full-time, live-in nursing home care, to having a home care assistant
visit just a few times a week – the costs can vary considerably.
Listed below is some average
costs for LTC as surveyed in 2009, and as publicized by the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services :
-
$219 per day for a private room
in a nursing home
-
$198 per day for a semi-private
room in a nursing home
-
$3,131 per month for care in
an Assisted Living Faciltiy
-
$21 per hour for a Home healthcare
aide
-
$19 per hour for home care services
-
$67 per day for care in an Adult
Day Care Center
Who pays for long-term care?
In the main Americans have to
pay for their own long-term care if they have sufficient assets.
Medicaid will meet some long-term care costs if you meet certain eligibility
criteria and have very limited financial resources. The Older Americans
Act is another federal program that helps to pay for long-term care services.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) does also offer some benefits for
long-term care services for service-related disabilities.
Many Americans end up dependent
upon family for caregiving, and therefore the true costs can not always
be measured, as this type of ‘informal care’ is rarely considered when
people weigh up what LTC costs are.
What is CLASS? (Community Living
Assistance Services and Supports)
CLASS (Community Living Assistance
Services and Supports) is a new voluntary, federally administered insurance
program that will provide benefits for long-term care services and support.
The CLASS program will be open to all working Americans over the age of
18, who will be able to voluntarily enroll in the CLASS program, without
any extensive health screening process. Unlike private long-term
care insurance, pre-existing medical conditions will not necessarily disqualify
someone from joining the program.
The Office of CLASS manages
the CLASS program, under the direction of the Administration on Aging (AoA).
The Affordable Care Act requires that the details of the CLASS benefit
plan be announced by October 1st 2012.
This new federally managed
program may be an improved solution to planning for long-term care, but
this will obviously be determined when the full details of how the benefit
plan of CLASS works are released.
You can keep abreast of news
and updates on the role-out of CLASS by visiting the Administration
of Aging web site.
Homepage
| Skilled Nursing
Facilities | Assisted
Living | Care Homes
| Retirement Communities
| Paying for Care
|
