Long Term Care

Valerie VanBooven RN, BSN, PGCM

“After having consulted with hundreds and hundreds of families, my guess is that if you are a consumer searching for information to help an aging family member, you are a family in crisis or on the brink of crisis. If that’s the case, then my best advice is to hire a private geriatric care manager. It’s worth every penny.

If on the other hand, you are a consumer trying to decide if you should buy long-term care insurance to plan ahead for long-term care, my advice is do it, don’t think twice. You will not regret that decision (and neither will your children!!). If it’s unaffordable, do a reverse mortgage and use that money to insure your future (if you are over 62).

grandparents with their grandchild

If your health has declined and you can’t get long-term care insurance, refer to paragraph #1, and by all means if you are over 62 and own your own home, use a reverse mortgage to pay privately for your own care. Use your home to stay at home!”

Long-term care IS so many things. It affects so many people: adult children, husbands, wives, employers, and friends. Navigating through the long term care maze has been the best-kept secret in America. However, as our population ages, we are “letting the cat out of the bag” so to speak. Long-term care means needing care for a long period of time, or at least greater than 90 days. A hospitalization for pneumonia, heart surgery, or kidney stones is not considered long term care. A diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, Emphysema, a Stroke, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, or COPD (just to name a few), ARE diseases and conditions that at some point may require long term care. Some of the conditions mentioned are manageable, but not curable. We can manage the symptoms of, and possibly slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, but we cannot cure it (yet). Long-term care does NOT always mean that we are bound for the nursing home. In fact, *80% of long-term care is being provided in a home-like setting. Only 20% is being provided in a nursing home.

* Source: Mebane, F., “Want to Understand How Americans Viewed Long-Term Care in 1998 - Start with Media Coverage”, The Gerontologist, Vol.. 41, No. 1, February, 2001




Some startling statistics:

  • 6 out of 10 people who reach age 65 will need long term care at some point in their lives. 1
  • 40% of the people who need long term care today are working age adults (ages 18-64). 2
  1. Conning & Company, Long-Term Care Insurance, Baby Boom or Bust?, 1999, p. 13
  2. Ibid
  • The average cost of in-home care is $20,000 or more.
  • The average cost of nursing home care is $52,000 or more.
  • MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home and Home Care Costs, April 2002
  • “Can Aging Baby Boomers Avoid the Nursing Home?”, Stucki, B. and Mulvey, J., American Council of Life Insurers, March 2000, page 15
    • Who is paying
  • Provided for skilled home care and short-term care following a hospital stay
  • Source: Department of Health and Human Services, HCFA, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group, Personal Health Care Expenditures, 2001