Immediacy of Securing Long Term Care Policies

Health care experts are not exaggerating when they said people expecting care in 20 years need long term care policies because relying on Medicaid alone for their long term health care will not guarantee them the best of care.

Medicaid has covered 49% of the nation’s total expenses for long term care (LTC) in 2010 so the government fears if this goes any higher it won’t take long for the coffers of Medicaid to dry up. Every person who is expecting to retire soon should be prepared when LTC costs begin to rise again.

In planning your long term care remember that today’s rates of LTC facilities won’t be a good gauge anymore as financial planners have predicted the cost of care in 2030 will be four times more than what today’s LTC recipients are paying for.

Twenty years from now, a California home health aide that currently charges $19 an hour will be charging $76 every hour while a Virginia nursing home’s private room which has a median annual rate of $77,380 will cost $309,520.

On the other hand, an assisted living facility in Louisiana which has a monthly rate of $3,065 at present will eventually be translated to $12,260 in 2030. This rate hike, which was foreboded by financial planners and top providers of long term care insurance (LTCI) policies, is what everybody should prepare for.

Based on the foresight of long term care specialists, 72 million of the elderly population aged 65 and older will need custodial care in 2030. That is only 20 years from now but many of the elderly folks think and feel that they still have the luxury of time to procrastinate their long term care plans.

Baby boomers who are expecting to turn 85 in 2030 should see to it that their long term care policies have the appropriate inflation protection rider to ensure they get quality care someday amidst increment in the rates of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, continuing care retirement communities, and home care among others.

Some long term care reviews cited rates of home care services remained steady this year, but in spite of this financial advisers say it is not advisable to settle for homemaker and home health aide services. Your choice of long term care service should depend on your needs.

If you are down with Alzheimer’s or hypertension, for instance, you would definitely need a nurse to monitor you 24 hours a day. This won’t be possible in your house except if you modify your place so that special hospital equipment can be integrated into it.

Every LTC facility is designed for a purpose. Home care is primarily intended for individuals who require custodial care and haven’t manifested symptoms of any debilitating illness. Although 89% of Americans prefer this setup, not everybody has managed to stay long in their homes after they were diagnosed with a serious health condition as this requires constant monitoring from a doctor and skilled nurse.

Assess your health and finances before looking through long term care policies so you can clearly identify what you need for your future health care.

Looking for affordable long term care plans? Visit our website to find various long term care policies that suit your needs.