Attention Long Term Care Shoppers: Costs and Other Realities

Modern consumers have greatly benefited from the ability to comparison shop and order from virtually any purveyor. This reality has even started to infiltrate the healthcare market.

However, long term care decisions for yourself or a loved one tend to be more difficult and cannot necessarily be made at the touch of a button through technology like Siri and Alexa. Whether the search is for a home health care worker, or, a facility such as an assisted living facility or nursing home, the choice is often a complex and nuanced one.

Some considerations to take into account:

LOCATION

Though there may be many available options in your state, that number may dwindle to a paltry few when you would like to stay in a specific location. Imagine, if the “best nursing home in the state” is an hour drive from your hometown, or, your children, would you be better off in a less highly-regarded facility located closeby?

PERSONALITY

Long term care involves a lot of ongoing, personal assistance. It includes help with some daily tasks most of us cannot imagine needing assistance with, including: dressing, bathing, eating, etc. Therefore the personality of your caregiver, and, the characteristics of your facility, do matter. They can make a tremendous difference in quality of life. It is important to ask your individual caregiver, or, the caregivers at the facility you are choosing, how long they have worked for their current company or facility. High turnover rates plague many organizations.

PAYMENT SOURCE

You have probably heard the phrase “money talks”, and that often unsaid rule does indeed apply to the long term care world. When you are privately paying for your care, you can expect to have more choice and more control than if Medicaid (or even Medicare) is paying your bill. More choice in provider possibilities, and more control in terms of an enhanced ability to call the shots.

In terms of paying, it can often be difficult to use current income or assets to pay for long term care. A better idea, in order preserve your income and assets, is to allow a long term care insurance policy to write the big caregiver checks.

COSTS

So, what does long term care cost? That’s a little bit like asking the question what does a car cost; the only honest answer is, “it depends”.  Not only does the cost of long term care vary by type of care, it also varies in different parts of the country, and even by location within a given state.

With all that said, below are some updated national median cost numbers:

Homemaker Services (44-hours a week) $49,934/yr.

Assisted Living Facility (1-bedroom unit) $45,000/yr.

Nursing Home (semi-private room) $85,775/yr.

With high costs like these, that are only going to rise over time with inflation, and an increasing pressure on publicly-funded programs, isn’t it good to know that purchasing long term care insurance can save you pennies on the dollar down the road?

If you would like to learn more about long term care planning, please contact us for a free consultation at: http://www.baygroupinsurance.com/forms/contact-us or 410-557-7907.