March 2004, Vol. 13, No. 3| Return to Table of Contents


Benfits News

Why Long-Term Care Insurance?

While you are working and earning, you are also hopefully building up financial assets. It’s important to protect these savings and investments for your future financial security. The need for extended—or long-term—care could be a threat. Long-term care insurance helps preserve those assets, while providing you choice and flexibility in the services that you receive.

What’s the chance of needing long-term care?
Many people think only the elderly need long-term care. The fact is, many conditions that can create the need for long-term care — arthritis, heart disease, stroke, brain trauma, cancers, and others—can affect people at any age.

How much does long-term care cost?
The financial impact is significant, no matter whether someone receives care in a nursing home facility or at home from a skilled caregiver. One year for one person in a nursing home costs an average of $56,000; total costs for nursing home and home health care totaled $117.1 billion in 1998. Medicare covered only 18% of that. Medicaid (available only after your resources have been depleted) covered 39%. Almost 30% of it – more than $35 billion – was paid from individuals’ personal funds.

Where can you get coverage?
Long-Term Care insurance coverage is available via privately purchased policies through most insurance agents. Remember, the younger you are when you buy the insurance, the lower your price will be. The MBL is exploring the feasibility of adding LTC insurance to its benefits program sometime in the near future.

Your comments on this topic are welcome; please address them to: <pmacswain@mbl.edu> or call x7422.