What is Long-Term Care Insurance?
Long term care refers to a wide range of medical, personal, and social services that helps assist with activities of daily living (ADLs). Examples of ADL’s include the inability to dress oneself; inability to move from one room to another; not being able to bath or shower. Long term care covers rehabilitation at home, in a skilled nursing facility, and services in a nursing home. Most long-term care recipients are older. This is because of debilitating physical conditions or the progression of cognitive disease. But younger people may need long term care due to complications arising from accidents.
Does Medicare cover long term care? No, it does not. Medicare is designed to cover acute care medical needs. It won’t cover nursing home care, nor will it cover care in a skilled nursing facility beyond 100 days. Some Medicare Advantage plans may help with IADL’s and ADL’s. But it will be for a short period of time and the allocated hours to assist with these tasks may not be enough.
The U.S. Census Bureau forecasts that the number of people 85 and older will nearly double by 2035 (to 11.8 million people) and nearly triple by 2060 (to 19 million).* This will necessitate additional medical and social resources from both public and private sectors, and financial resources from families to fund long term care. Default funding for nursing home care is Medicaid.
Long term care benefits may be available as a rider with some life insurance policies, but they won’t provide the depth of coverage from long-term care insurance. Getting this kind of insurance is an important step. If you want more information on these policies, call 702-525-6847, email ken@deserthealthandlife.com, or fill out our contact form. For general information on long term care, visit www.longtermcare.gov.
*Mark Miller, “Retirees, Get Ready to Need Long Term Care. Here’s What to Know.” New York Times, May 25, 2025.