LTC Wild Card Post

Take a moment to let these numbers sink in from the National Clearing house for Long Term Care:
• $187/day for a semi-private room in a nursing home
• $209/day for a private room in a nursing home
• $3,008/month for care in an Assisted Living Facility(for a one-bedroom unit)
• $29/hour for a Home Health Aide
• $18/hour for a Homemaker services
• $59/day for care in an Adult Day Health Care Center

I have to wonder how on earth my parents will afford LTC with their modest retirement pension and savings. How does any average middle class person afford this?

One of the topic’s that interest me most in Long Term Care is cost and the ability of the “Average Joe” to pay for LTC. With nursing home care costs topping an astonishing $68,000 annually for a semi-private room it is amazing that any average person can afford this. According to the National Clearinghouse for Long Term Care, 70% of Americans at some point will need LTC. One has to wonder how the average person can afford these extraordinary costs. With the Baby Boomer’s facing their gold years the generations after them are worried as well. Soon many of the offspring from the Baby Boomer generation may be stuck in the “sandwich” where they are facing the costs of caring for their aging parents while trying to afford the cost of putting a child through college. I am one of those with baby boomer parents who worries how my parents and I will afford the cost of LTC when it is needed.


Many people have the misconception that Medicare will cover one’s long term care needs, I use to be one of them. When in reality Medicare only covers long term care costs in the case where one needs to receive care from an injury or illness but what happens when a person needs permanent indefinite care in a long term care facility. Many are startled to find out that Medicare will not cover the cost of their care. Medicaid will cover some cost if you qualify but most people, like my parents, do not qualify for Medicaid. Where does that leave the “Average Joe” who has too many assets for Medicaid, no long term care insurance and definitely not wealthy enough to afford long term care? It’s a situation many baby boomers may soon find themselves in.

As a society, more needs to done to educate the general public in regards to the misconceptions of Long Term Care and cost. A national public campaign needs to be implemented in educating the public on their options for covering the cost of LTC. Long Term Care insurance premiums need to be more affordable for the average person as well as educating the younger generations how important it is to purchase a policy when young. Alternative means to approaching LTC also need to be discovered. The old cliché of “it takes a village to raise a child” also hold true for the edlderyl. The village needs raisethe elderly too.

National Clearninghouse for Long-Term Care Information. (2008, May 5). In U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved September 6, 2008, from http://www.longtermcare.gov/ltc/main_site/paying_ltc/costs_of_care/costs_of_care.aspx