Exemption From Long Term Care?

I doubt if there is such a thing as long term care exemption. Just recently, a colleague and I discussed long term care (LTC) lengthily which almost resulted in an endless debate because she insisted not everybody needs this kind of heath care service.

According to my co-worker, her grandmother died at the age of 72 after she failed to wake up one morning. I said just because her granny died in that fashion it does not follow that she will end up the same way. I even added that her grandmother was a member of the Silent Generation while we are members of the Generation X, and according to the prediction of health care specialists this generation and baby boomers have a longer life expectancy.

Although living longer may sound good and positive, it has certain disadvantages, too. It makes one susceptible to different kinds of health conditions that will require him to fork out more of his resources than what he had initially planned.

Without an effective plan for your future health care, you will have no choice but to exhaust your retirement savings and other liquid assets to cover all the expenses that you could possibly incur in a nursing home, assisted living facility or from home care.

As one reaches 40, he should start to contemplate about his future health care otherwise he might end up impoverished, as the cost of care is expected to rise in the next 20 years.

According to financial advisers, come 2026 baby boomers who plan to self-insure must be prepared to face the cost of care which is going to be twice as much as today’s rates for home care, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult day care health centers, continuing-care retirement communities, and other community-based long term care facilities.

Meanwhile, members of the last batch of baby boomers who are looking at 20 years before requiring assistance in their activities of daily living should be ready for bigger LTC costs. Research shows that the rates of LTC services will shoot up fourfold 20 years from now. If the annual rate of a private nursing home room in your area is currently $81,000 expect this to soar to $324,000 in 2030.

Apart from nursing homes and community-based LTC facilities, the rates of home care which is practically every American’s preference will also rise. So, a home health aide that charges $19 per hour at present will demand for $76 in 2030 and that will be tantamount to $221,920 every year.

Due to the continuous rise of LTC cost in the country, young people are encouraged to prepare early. Better start early than end up cramming like many baby boomers. According to top LTC insurance providers, there are 79 million baby boomers that will require serious care at some point in their lives but only 10 million of that number has already secured LTC insurance policies.

Others are still skeptical of LTC insurance policies such as the colleague I was talking about earlier. According to her, if she ends up not needing long term care it would turn out that she has wasted a chunk of money on annual premiums. Well, to each his own.

Visit CompleteLongTermCare.com to read articles about the costs of long term care insurance in different states. Research and compare long term care plan from top providers.