Long Term Care

What is Long-Term Care?

Long-term care is a variety of services that includes medical and non-medical care to people who have a chronic illness or disability. Long-term care helps meet health and/or personal needs. Most long-term care is designed to assist people with support services such as activities of daily living like dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom. Long-term care can be provided at home, in assisted living facilities or in nursing homes. It is important to remember that you may need long-term care at any age.

We hope you may never need long-term care, but it is quite likely that if you do, you will be cared for in your home by family and friends who typically are the sole caregivers for 70 percent of the elderly. A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that people who reach age 65 will likely have a 40 percent chance of entering a nursing home. About 10 percent of the people who enter a nursing home will stay there five years or more.

Medicare and Long-Term Care:

While there are a variety of ways to pay for long-term care, it is important to think ahead about how you will fund the care you get. Generally, Medicare doesn’t pay for long-term care. Medicare pays only for a medically necessary skilled nursing facility or home health care. However, you must meet certain conditions before Medicare will pay for these types of care. Most long-term care is to assist people with “custodial care” (non-skilled care) which Medicare doesn’t pay for. It may also include care that most people do for themselves, for example, diabetes monitoring.

Choosing long-term care is an important decision. Planning for long-term care requires you to think about possible future health care needs. It is important to look at all of your choices. Having a long-term care policy will allow you to have more control over decisions and be able to stay independent. It is important to think about long-term care before you may need care or before a crisis occurs. Even if you plan ahead, making long-term care decisions can be extremely difficult. So, give us a call and allow us to provide you with a trained and skilled advisor

There is a difference. We are the difference!