There’s a pretty good chance you will get sick or injured during retirement.
In fact, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports that 69% of people will use long-term care services at some point.
That means that you’ll need funds to cover your medical bills, which can be a considerable hit to your retirement savings if you didn’t plan ahead. Morningstar estimates that without long-term care insurance, you’ll pay about $140,000, on average, for decent long-term care.
What Is Long-Term Care Insurance?
Long-term care insurance provides financial coverage for medical care during retirement and helps to cover chronic medical condition expenses that are not covered by your standard health insurance plan.
Regular health insurance doesn’t cover long-term care. Long-term care coverage includes:
- basic physician
- specialist physician
- surgical procedures
- nursing home care
- specific lifestyle assistance
- transportation to and from medical appointments
- assisted-living care
- in-home care
- rehabilitation care
- adult day care services
Long-term care coverage can save you a lot of money, not to mention the stress that comes along with paying out-of-pocket for medical care and services.
While Medicare and Medicaid can help seniors pay for healthcare, they do not cover the cost of long-term care. While Medicare covers short nursing home stays, limited amounts of home health care, and rehab, it doesn't pay for custodial care, which includes supervision and help with day-to-day tasks.
According to LongTermCare.gov, the cost of these long-term care services can be prohibitive for many people…
- $225 a day or $6,844 a month for a semi-private room in a nursing home
- $253 a day or $7,698 a month for a private room in a nursing home
- $119 a day or $3,628 a month for care in an assisted living facility (for a one-bedroom unit)
- $20.50 an hour for a health aide
- $20 an hour for homemaker services
- $68 a day for services in an adult day health care center
Why is Long-Term Care Insurance Important?
- Protect your assets. Not only do Medicare and Medicaid not cover long-term health care, but private health insurance also only pays for doctor and hospital bills. If you didn’t include long-term care insurance in your retirement plans, you’ll end up depleting your hard-earned savings to pay for care.
- Take the pressure off your family. Many people are not able or willing to make the physical, emotional, and financial sacrifices of becoming a caregiver. This is especially true when the caregiver is a spouse or partner also facing their own aging health issues.
- Keep your care options open. Unlike Medicare or Medicaid, long-term care insurance gives you flexible options when it comes to deciding where you’ll receive care.
- Take control. When you have long-term care insurance coverage, you never have to wonder what would happen if you needed long-term care and how that care would be paid for.
Like most consumer insurance policies, long-term care insurance starts with research. There are a lot of potential long-term care insurance policy providers to choose from.
We can help you understand the different kinds of long-term care you may need and what insurance coverage will best suit your needs.
CONTACT US today to speak with a financial professional about your long-term care coverage options.
SOURCES:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/insurance/long-term-care-insurance
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-long-term-care-insurance-is-important/
https://lifehappens.org/long-term-care-insurance-101/why-is-long-term-care-insurance-worth-it/