Will you need long-term care?

According to a recent survey, most Americans believe that they do not need Long Term Care Insurance. Consider this:

Myth: Long-term care is only for the elderly.

Fact: This couldn’t be farther from the truth— 40% of Americans receiving long-term care are under age 65. An example of this is the plight of Superman-- it wasn’t kryptonite that brought him down. Christopher Reeve, at the age of 43, became one of the millions of working adults in this country between ages 18-64 needing long-term care.

Fact: A full third of people that suffer a stroke are under the age of 65 (American Heart Association).

Myth: You will never need Long Term Care Insurance.

A survey completed by the Gallup Organization shows that 76% of Americans believe they will never have the need for a nursing home, an assisted living program, home and community-based care, or any other type of LTC service (Public Attitudes on Long Term Care: "The EBRI Poll": A National Public Opinion Survey Conducted by The Gallup Organization, Inc. Released August 1993; 15).

Fact: Two out of five Americans will need nursing home care at some point in their lives (Kemper, Peter, and Christopher M. Murtaugh, "Lifetime Use of Nursing Home Care." New England Journal of Medicine 1991; 324 (9): 595).

Fact: One in five Americans over the age of 50 is at a high risk of needing long-term care services during the next 12 months (“Long-Term Care Awareness Survey”, Harvard School of Public Health/ Louis Harris & Associates, 1/2/96, p. 2).

Fact: Over 50% of people over age 65 will need some sort of long-term care. This is 1 out of 2 people who will need care, which includes not just nursing home care, but home health care as well.

Consider this:

Do you drive a car without car insurance?

Of course not, yet the odds of having an automobile accident are 1 in 240.

Do you own a home? You have homeowner’s insurance on your home, don't you? Again, yes of course you do. Yet the odds of a fire in the home are only 1 in 1,200.

The odds are 1 in 2 that you will need long-term care.

Families that plan for long-term care needs, such as home health care, adult day care and nursing home care and do not rely on public assistance programs will find themselves with more control and independence when they become one of the one out of two people who will need long-term care. Those who have planned properly will not find themselves surprised by the high costs of care.