What is Long-Term Care Insurance?

Long term care refers to a wide range of medical, personal, and social services and involves assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs).  Examples of ADL’s include one’s inability to dress oneself; inability to move from one room to another; not being able to bath or shower.  Long term care covers rehabilitation in a skilled nursing facility and services in a nursing home.  Most long-term care recipients are older because chronic physical conditions or the progression of cognitive disease.  But those who are younger 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.  Medicare Advantage plans may help with IADL’s and ADL’s.  However, it will be for a short period of time plus the allocated hours to assist with these tasks may not be enough.

The number of Americans, ages 65 and older, is estimated to nearly double from 2018 to 2060 (52 to 98 million). * This will necessitate additional medical and social resources as well as financial resources from families to fund long term care.  Medicaid is the current federal-state primary payer for nursing home care.

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 a 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.

*”Fact Sheet: Aging in the United States,” Mike Mather, Paola Scommegna, Lillian Kilduff, July 15, 2019.