Paying for Long Term Care

This is not something that I thought I would ever write about from a personal perspective.  My parents have prepared well for their retirement.  They have the financial resources and investments to keep up their standard of living during their retirement.  This is not to say that they are rich or that they don’t have to be careful but overall, they do all right.

With my father’s illness, it has become apparent that it’s not enough.  The one thing that they weren’t really prepared for was one of them having to have long term care.  Medicare  and insurance only pay for a limited number of days in a nursing facility.  It’s not something that any of us want to think about needing but AARP says that 69% of men and 79% of women over the age of 65 will need long term care.

Cost of Long Term Care

My father was admitted into a small nursing home affiliated with the hospital.  The cost per day is $132 or almost $4000 per month for a semi private room.  This is more than both his retirement and his social security combined.  It’s a nice nursing home but it’s not the Ritz.  Even if my mother could afford to pay it, the cost would leave her unable to pay the monthly bills at home.

Medicare and Health Insurance

Medicare and regular health insurance pay for only 20 days of long term care in a nursing home IF the patient was hospitalized for at least 3 days prior to admission.  This pays for a semi private room, regular nursing care, meals, rehabilitative services, drugs and medical supplies.

My father has a terminal illness and alzheimer’s.  He has been getting progressively weaker and has trouble getting up and maintaining his balance.  My mother is not able to lift him to help him out of bed so while he does not need round the clock medical care, he does need round the clock assistance.

Nursing Home Alternatives

Their choices are somewhat limited.  They can pay someone to come into their home to assist my father.  Right now, they may only need someone during the day to get him up.  Eventually, they will need round the clock care though. This should be less expensive than the nursing home for the moment.

The family can take care of him.  Our family is rather scattered.  My sister is the closest but she could not physically take care of him.   I am the logical choice but I am 7 hours away and have responsibilities at home that make it difficult to stay in Georgia.  I will probably be making arrangements to do just that though.

Long Term Care Insurance

For those of us who are approaching retirement age,  we may want to consider long term care insurance.  According to this website the cost of long term care insurance for a 50 year old is $564 per year, for a 65  year old the annual cost would be $1337 and for a 75 year old the annual cost would be $5330.  Deductibles and benefits can vary with each policy and affect the cost.  The premium amount should not change once you have enrolled in coverage so look at the long term cost before you purchase a policy.  Pay particular attention to the deductible amount as this can be as much as 90 days before coverage begins.

This is going to be a difficult decision for  our family.  Has anyone had any experience with long term care?  How did you cope with it?  Do you have long term care insurance?

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