- The overwhelming reason people buy long term care insurance is NOT to be a burden to their family and loved ones. Sure, there are loved ones who will take on the responsibility for our care, but is it really fair to expect them to? Have you thought about the logistics of it all? Who is going to be the caregiver? Are they even physical able to carry out the tasks that will need to be performed? No one knows when they might need long term care. Long term care is something we don't plan on needing, but you have to agree it can happen to you.
- Another reason people buy long term care insurance is that they have assets they want to protect. It really doesn't matter how much money you have, or how big the portfolio. It matters that it is yours (ours) and we all want to protect what is ours. The cost of long term care nationwide is 70K a year for nursing home care and 34K for in-home care. If you do need long term care and you don't have long term care insurance, then you will have to use your own money to pay for it.
- The next reason people buy long term care insurance is to avoid welfare. Medicaid was designed for the disabled and less fortunate persons who are not able to finance their own long term care. Medicaid has a 5 year look back to prevent people from hiding assets. In order to qualify for Medicaid, one has to spend down to almost their last nickel. Many people have an aversion to welfare and sometimes the standard of care is not as it should be. With the government taking care of you, you've lost a large amount of your independence-if not all.
There are critics who say, "long term care is a waste of money and it's expensive."
Well, to counter, I'd like to say, "I hope it is a waste of money" and this is what I mean by that.
The critics don't say that about home insurance or health insurance, or car insurance. Why in the world would they say that about Long Term Care Insurance? The threat of long term care is greater than all three of the other risks combined. I don't know about you, but I don't go to bed at night thinking, "Hum, I haven't used my car insurance for the last 30 years and look at all the money I've wasted, I sure hope I get to use it tomorrow!" or "I pay all this money for health insurance, I sure hope something happens so I can use it!"and "I haven't had a fire, or had a home invasion lately..." Well, you get the picture.
I go to bed at night with the peace of mind that my risks are covered...especially the risk of long term care. I secretly hope my premiums are a waste of money. I don't want to use any of it, but the threat of long term care is real and I want to be protected.
Expensive? Well, maybe the critics haven't pitted the cost of long term care premiums against the price of long term care. There are many web sites that provide the cost of long term care. Visit my website: eaglelongtermcareconsulting.org to get links on trusted sites. Compared to 74K a year for nursing home care, 1000K a year premium (depending on your age) doesn't sound at all bad. It's just a drop in the bucket!
