• 3 in 4 people over 65 will need long-term care services at some point in their lives. (Source: 2015 Medicare & You, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
  • About 68% of nursing home residents and 72% of assisted living residents are women. (Source: Long-Term Care Services in the United States: 2013 Overview, National Center for Health Statistics)
  • The national median daily rate in 2014 for a private room in a nursing home was $240, an increase of 4.35% from 2013. (Source: Genworth 2014 Cost of Care Survey, March 2014)
  • The average length of a nursing home stay is 2-1/2 years.
  • At a median daily rate of $240, an average nursing home stay annually is over $86,000 a year, making it virtually unaffordable for many Americans.

Medicare

Medicare does not pay for long-term care services, as explained by the Social Security Administration: “Social Security pays retirement, disability, family and survivors benefits. Medicare, a separate program run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, helps pay for inpatient hospital care, nursing care, doctors’ fees, drugs, and other medical services and supplies to people age 65 and older, as well as to people who have been receiving Social Security disability benefits for two years or more. Medicare does not pay for long-term care, so you may want to consider options for private insurance.”

Medicaid

During the Medicaid application process, you will have to provide documentation of what assets you have. While Medicaid’s assessment of your income is relatively straightforward, the assessment of your assets can be fairly complex, depending on how much and what kind of assets you have.

Assets that are usually counted for eligibility include:

  • Checking and savings accounts
  • Stocks and bonds
  • Certificates of deposit
  • Real property other than your primary residence
  • Additional motor vehicles if you have more than one.

Private Insurance

It is important that you understand what services your long term care insurance policy covers and how it covers the many types of long term care services you might need to use. Policies may cover the following:

  • Nursing home care
  • Home health care
  • Respite care
  • Hospice care
  • Personal care in your home
  • Services in assisted living facilities
  • Services in adult day care centers
  • Services in other community facilities