Benefits can be triggered by cognitive impairment
or an inability to perform two or more activities of
daily living (ADLs) such as bathing, dressing,
feeding, toileting, transferring, etc. These
benefits can cover many settings for care including
skilled nursing facilities (nursing homes), assisted
living facilities, memory-impaired facilities, adult
care homes, residential care homes, hospicee care
facilities and optionally, in the family's own home
(home care).In addition, many policies can cover an
independent geriatric manager and homemaker services
such as cooking, cleaning, laundry and even
shopping. It can also cover training family members
in personal care giving.
Policies are not standardized. Each plan is
custom designed with the help of a state-licensed
LTCi agent. Most policies reimburse policyholders
for care expenses, although some policies call for a
check without proof of expenditures once the
benefits are triggered.
While most buyers claim the coverage serves as
"asset protection", many see it as the only way to
assure freedom of choice in securing the quality of
care that they desire. These families wish to avoid
reliance on an overtaxed Medicaid or welfare
bureaucracy that cannot guarantee top quality care
for everyone.
As in other areas or our society, it comes down
to dollars, dollars, dollars and dollars are exactly
what LTCi can deliver when the need is there.Care
situations can be stressful enough without the added
burden of paying year after year for professional
help.
WOMEN AT RISK?
The need for long-term care is greatest in the
over-65 population in general and specifically in
the over-85 group, where the need for formal nursing
care is highest. Statistics published by the
Health Insurance Association of America reveal that
almost one half of the population turning age 65
will need formal nursing home confinement of some
duration in their remaining years. Roughly one
fourth of the population over age 85 are in nursing
homes at any given time. By age 85, sixty one
percent of people who have limitations in performing
activities of daily living are indeed receiving care
in nursing homes.
There are now over 2.25 million older Americans
in nursing facilities. This figure is expected to
increase another one million by the year 2003 and
much more from there on. How many new nursing
home beds must we add to handle these needs by the
year 2030 when the median baby boomers retire?
Reports predict as many as 200 more nursing home
beds per day will be needed.
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