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Why The WSJ Is Wrong About Long-Term Care Planning
Jan 22, 2018 @ 05:20 PM
A recent Wall Street Journal article, “Millions Bought Insurance to Cover Retirement Health Costs. Now They Face an Awful Choice,” has been circulating on the internet but for all the wrong reasons. The WSJ piece essentially falls into the “bad news sells” category of reporting. While the article itself provides plenty of great statistics and touches on a very important topic, the article really misses the mark on two main points about long-term care insurance. Its “Woe is me!” theme actually pushes people away from doing quality long-term care planning. Instead of lamenting past missteps, the article could have emphasized some of the new techniques for building effective and sustainable solutions to the budding long-term care crisis.
Let’s start with what the article gets wrong. Unfortunately, we have to start with the title of the article. The title misrepresents the issue, as it refers to insurance as a way to cover “health care costs,” which is not the intended purpose of long-term care insurance. Long-term care insurance is not designed to cover health care costs. It is designed to cover custodial care, which is more accurately defined as needed assistance with basic daily functions like eating and dressing.
Planning For Long Term Care The right plan, the right way, at the right time
Almost 70% of people over 65 will need some form of long term care services and support at some point.
https://www.genworth.com/lets-talk/ltc/planning-for-long-term-care.html
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (www.longtermcare.gov), February 21, 2017
Long term care is one of the most pressing issues facing Americans today– and it will only get more urgent as the nation ages. While people are living longer, many have little idea about the added pressures on their “long life care”– fiscally and emotionally.
This risk can dissolve your retirement savings by $97,000 each year
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/23/nursing-home-care-can-quickly-deplete-your-retirement-savings.html
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Costs for care in a nursing home are approaching $100,000 a year.
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Long-term care insurance companies have sought premium hikes as high as 94 percent.
Near-retirees wanting to shield themselves from nursing home costs face a quandary: Should they eat double-digit rate hikes for long-term care insurance, or should they walk away from their policy?
Should Your Aging Parent Move in with You?
Updated On July 20, 2017 aplaceformom.com/blog/8-15-16-should-your-aging-parent-move-in-with-you/
One of the biggest questions children of aging parents face is whether their elderly parents should move into their homes or into senior living.
Read below to gain insight into the benefits and drawbacks of moving someone in with you. One out of every four caregivers lives with the elderly or disabled relative he or she cares for, according to new research from the National Institute of Health. This arrangement can have many positives, but there is a point where it can actually cause more expense, fatigue, heartache and stress; especially if the house has to go through a remodel for accommodations.
Your 2017 Guide to Long-Term Care and Long-Term Care Insurance
Todd Campbell (TMFEBCapital) | Jun 10, 2017 at 7:21AM
What You Need To Know To Help You Understand And Plan For Long-Term Care This Year.
Healthcare innovation is increasing life expectancy, and as a result, the number of Americans who are the oldest old, or those age 85 and up, is growing much more quickly than the rest of the population. Living longer is generally good news, but it means we're increasingly at risk of requiring long-term care during our lifetimes. Unfortunately, that's a big problem because long-term care costs thousands of dollars per month, and it isn't covered by Medicare or health insurance.
Here's what you need to know about long-term care, including tips that can help you prepare for it.
Not Too Late: An Annuity Can Help Clients Who Need LTC Now
By: Debapriya Mitra | June 2017
Paying for expenses later in life can be challenging, given consumers’ overall lack of preparedness for retirement. Compounding the problem is the risk of needing costly long-term care, and that risk increases as people live longer. Along with that risk comes the concern that retirement savings may not be enough to cover these expenses.
Health Insurance Premium Relief
1-31-2017
https://mn.gov/mmb/minnesota-health-insurance-premium-relief/
Thanks to Governor Mark Dayton and the Legislature, anyone who has purchased a health care policy through the individual market will see a 25 percent automatic discount on their monthly bill.
If you have not purchased health insurance for 2017, take the first step and purchase health insurance before open enrollment ends:
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Deadline is Feb. 8 when you purchase through MNsure, Blue Plus, or Health Partners
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Deadline is Jan. 31 when you purchase direct through other insurance companies
New peak for US Health Care Spending: $10,345 per person
Published July 14, 2016 | Associated Press
The nation's health care tab this year is expected to surpass $10,000 per person for the first time, the
government said Wednesday. The new peak means the Obama administration will pass the problem of
high health care costs on to its successor.
The report from number crunchers at the Department of Health and Human Services projects
that health care spending will grow at a faster rate than the national economy over the coming decade. That
squeezes the ability of federal and state governments, not to mention employers and average citizens, to
pay.
Poll: A Third Of People Have Done No Long-Term Care Planning
By Alejandra Cancino | The Associated Press | June 1, 2016 — 7:04pm
CHICAGO — Demand for long-term care is expected to increase as the nation ages, but the majority of Americans 40 and older lack confidence in their ability to pay for it. The annual cost of long-term care expenses range from $17,680 for adult day care to more than $92,000 for a private room in a nursing home, according to Genworth Financial.
Yet an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey finds that a third of Americans 40 and older have done no planning for their own long-term care needs, such as setting aside money to pay for a home aide, for help with daily activities or for a room in a nursing home.
Why?
Study: Costs for Most Long-Term Care Keep Climbing
By Tom Murphy, AP Business Writer | May 10, 2016, 1:18 PM ET
Long-term care grew more expensive again this year, with the cost of the priciest option, a private nursing home room, edging closer to $100,000 annually, according to a survey from Genworth Financial.
Americans also are paying more for other care options like home health aides and assisted living communities, while adult day care costs fell slightly compared to 2015, Genworth reported in a study released Tuesday.
Life Insurance Buys vs. Needs: An Infographic
Feb 08, 2016 | By Warren S. Hersch
Fewer than half of respondents surveyed by LIMRA say they would buy life insurance for the benefit of loved ones. We’ve long tracked in this space the alarmingly high number of Americans who remain uninsured. Last September, LIMRA pegged the life insurance “coverage gap” — or the total of life insurance needs less life insurance in-force — at a whopping $16 trillion. That’s up from $15 trillion in 2013.
One reason for the gap is the perception that Americans have about the cost of life insurance. As we noted in the prefacing text to an infographic we posted in August, many U.S. consumers overestimate the cost of life insurance: millennials by 213 percent; and Gen Xers by 119 percent.
Wealth-Protection Insurance People Neglect
An adviser explains the importance of long-term-care and umbrella-liability insurance
By Ivory Johnson Jan. 31, 2016 10:01 p.m. ET
People are so focused on making money, they often forget to protect their wealth once they have it. It is common to see headlines about the market going up or down, but rarely do we hear about a middle-class person who got sued after a car accident and didn’t have the proper insurance to protect his or her assets.
Two overlooked areas designed to protect assets are long-term-care insurance and umbrella liability insurance.
Your 2017 Guide to Long-Term Care and Long-Term Care Insurance | Jun 10, 2017 at 7:21AM
Study: Costs for Most Long-Term Care Keep Climbing | 5-10-2016
Life Insurance Buy vs Need: An Infographic | 2-8-16
Wealth Protection Insurance People Neglect | 1-31-2016
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