Long-term care is a growing reality and many do not think about preparing for long-term care until the need arises. At that point, they may be too old or disabled to purchase insurance.
The biggest challenge people will face, is paying for their own healthcare. Only 1 in 6 employers offers their retirees health care. Over the next two decades, the average 65-year-old couple can expect to fork out up to $220,000 for their health care.
One of the biggest misconceptions many people believe is that Medicare, retiree health plans, or Medicare supplement insurance covers Long Term Care services. This is not the case.
Medicare is not a complete system of healthcare. Even though it pays for many preventative services and covers most medically necessary services, Medicare pays for less than half of what seniors typically spend for their total health care expenses.
Given the statistical possibility of needing long-term care and the tremendous cost that this care entails, it is important that individuals plan for it—and the sooner the better.
Upon completion of this course, you should:
- be able to explain the four parts of Medicare
- know the purpose of standardized Medigap insurance and how it covers some of the gaps that Medicare does not pay
- understand the very limited role Medicare and Medigap serve in covering extended
long-term care services
- define long-term care and how it differs from traditional medical care
- explain the distinctions between medical and non-medical LTC services
- identify activities of daily living (ADLs)
- understand the basic social issues associated with long-term care
- describe the physical, mental, and social conditions that have given rise to long-term care
- why medicaid has become the nation’s major source of financing for LTC services
