Long-term care health insurance is a good buy for various individuals
as described on the previous page. Long-term care health insurance is
also preferable for people who fall within the following categories:
Those who are likely to need long-term care.
Although you can never be sure, you will have to make an educated
guess if you will be an individual likely to eventually need long-term
care. After the age of 60, the likelihood of needing a nursing home at
some point in time is approximately 40%. The average length of stay
is about 2.5 years. However, 45% of nursing home stays are for three
months or less, with the majority being less than one year. However,
10% of people who enter a nursing home are there for five years or
more. Another 30% of older individuals end up needing assisted-living
care, or a significant amount of assistance at home.
So,
what does this actually tell you? It means that at some point in time
you or your loved one have a relatively high probability of eventually
needing a nursing home, assisted living or homecare, but, for perhaps
not for more than a year or two.
You
can also refine your probabilities of whether or not your loved one
may need an expensive nursing home by considering their health and
family history. If they have a family history of sudden fatal heart
attacks, then they may be less likely to need extended nursing home
care then say a person who has a family history of Alzheimer's
disease. Are they a smoker? Do they exercise? How is their mother’s
bone density? All of these factors play a role in how much care an
individual may need some day.
Another factor in considering whether someone is a good candidate for
long-term health insurance is; “Do they have a lot of family support,
a wealth of local volunteers, and inexpensive services on which they
can rely or do they live in a community with little in the way of
social services?" If your mother lives near your sister, who is
retired nurse with time on her hands, she is less apt to need nursing
home care then a person who lives alone, far from family and other
sources of social support.
Those who have no plans of entering a continuing care retirement
community.
Continuing care retirement communities as they are referred to,
usually charge large admission and monthly fees, but they usually
provide almost all the care that will be necessary, from
assisted-living to nursing home care. Having long-term care health
insurance would be redundant and not necessary in these circumstances.
How do I know if I would be a good candidate for long-term care health
insurance?