Long Term Care issues facing Baby Boomers

Millions of baby boomers in the United States are not fully aware of the importance of ensuring their health. Many of them do things to protect their assets, but they fail to realize the fact that the long-term care are the greater financial risk of their lives. They also don't know exactly how to deal with the costs of long-term care that they incur in the future.

A large percentage of baby boomers may need long-term care when they hit their retirement years. However, less than half of them have taken steps to prepare for it. This lack of preparation can lead to financial disaster. On the one hand, the expenditure required to support the baby boomers are expensive. Average nursing home equates to $ 74.600 per year. With the nursing home stays average 2.4 years, the total extended support is expected to reach $ 8.88 trillion over the next 19 years.

Currently, there are an estimated 78.2 million baby boomers in the United States. These are the people who were born during the post-war era, from 1946 to 1964. Annually Americans spend about $ 200 billion in long-term care. 51% of this amount is paid by individual borrowers and private long-term care insurance. The remaining percentage is paid by Medicaid. However, we can expect a sudden change in these percentages when the baby boomers reach their golden years. There is also a great deal of speculation about whether or not Medicaid will be able to withstand the increasing number of seniors who need care in the coming decades.

The baby boom generation faces several problems today. One is the escalating costs of living and medical expenses. Among the advances in medical technology, the costs of health care for the elderly continue to climb. Baby boomers who plan their care cost post-retirement risk a financial crisis.

Many of them think that regular health insurance would be sufficient to meet their needs for care, but they are absolutely wrong in this hypothesis. The costs of long-term care benefits will not be covered by medical insurance and social security. Insurance for long-term care of baby boomers is the only type of policy that would cover the expenses for care services and activities of daily living (Adls). LTCi is designed to provide coverage for various services for elderly and disabled who require care and assistance at home, institution of nursing or assisted living facility.

Indeed, combined health and benefits plans Medicare pay only about 3% of the costs of extended care. In addition, an individual can only be eligible for benefits of Medicaid funded by the Government if he or she lives below the poverty level or have low incomes and limited assets. To address these problems, the baby boom should plan their future care needs by getting long-term care insurance baby boomers. Understanding the costs of LTCi plans will help a baby boomer in making the right choice to ensure a long-term care quality.