Because you plan for everything else like your career, your wedding, your vacation, it's just a logical progression. Get in touch with reality; we all know people, family and friends, who weren't prepared for an unexpected injury or illness and their lives were rocked. How many auto accidents did you have in the past 10 years? You still carried insurance on your vehicle.
Nearly 70% of all long term care is provided in the home by family members and friends. Because of that you need to know who can and will help if your recovery or care depended on it. This high statistic isn't just because people can't afford to be cared for in a professional facility. It is reflective of dignity people have and want to keep even though recovery. Hospitals and Nursing homes are for sick people, and a mojority or more than 75 percent of the people needing long term care don't need 24 hour skilled nursing assistance. Is it fair however to expect a family member or friend to take off work without compensation to care for us?
Imagine driving home from the store or work and being involved in a serious auto accident. Thank God we survived but suffered a spinal injury which required nine months of home based rehab in order to walk again. Unless we had access to a six figure bank account could your spouse afford to take the time off to provide your after care?
How about a stroke? Maybe a little easier to imagine since some one in the United States has a stroke every 45 seconds. Some strokes are very minor however many are life changing requiring months of recovery or continued life long assistance. Could your family survive without your income and at the same time be responsible to care for you?
Long Term Care Insurance isn't just for nursing homes, only 15% of people requiring long term care assistance receive it in a skilled nursing facility. The rest are treated at home or in an assisted living home or community based providers. Long Term Care Insurance policies have options to provide the money necessary to pay for these type of services.
Pennsylvania has almost 2 million citizens over age 65
Pennsylvania ranks third in the U.S. by percentage of the population age 65 and older (behind Florida and West Virginia), and 1 in 5 Pennsylvanians are 60 or older. Pennsylvania ranks fourth in the U.S. by number of population over age 85, those who are the most intensive users of nursing home care.
The Medicaid program is designed to help people with low income and virtually no assets pay for health care. Thirty percent of the Medicaid recipients in nursing homes today have qualified for Medicaid by exhausting personal assets to pay for the care and services they receive.
Won't Medicaid or Medicare help?
The 629 facilities across the Commonwealth that participate in the Medicaid Assistance program paid almost $4.0 billion in salaries, fringe benefits, and contract nursing services, and over $28 million in real estate taxes in 2005.