November was Long-Term Care Awareness Month, and America’s media dutifully featured more long-term care coverage than we’d normally see in a given month. (Still, we dare say it’s far less coverage than you’d expect for a country in which 1 out of 4 people are providing unpaid long-term care to a loved one, and nearly three-fourths of Americans over the age of 65 are expected to need long-term care during their lifetimes.)
Most of the coverage was fairly negative in tone. Maybe that’s no surprise. After all, America’s long-term care picture isn’t exactly what you’d call pretty. The annual cost of a private nursing home room runs well over $90,000 on average.
To help pay for that, some Americans (though certainly not most Americans) turn to long-term care insurance.
But long-term care insurance isn’t perfect. Scores of articles made that painfully clear last month. These insurance policies certainly help, but they don’t pay for everything, and most Americans are still hesitant to give advance planning a second thought.
Forbes raised another interesting issue last month too: many of the people who do carry these policies ultimately let them lapse before utilizing their benefits. That’s a pretty befuddling fact on its own, but it becomes especially astounding after Forbes’ discovery that the people who let their policies lapse are substantially more likely to need those policies later.
Why does that happen? Cognitive impairment, it seems. Forbes terms them “forgetful lapsers.” The people who will most need long-term care may be the same people who are already having memory problems, which means they’re more likely to accidentally let a policy expire.
What’s the solution to all this? Like so many challenges in life, the best answers are probably found in preparation and communication.
Long-term care insurance can be very helpful and ought not be dismissed outright simply because it’s imperfect. It is imperfect, though, and so it is best thought of as one important piece in a bigger puzzle.
The whole long-term care challenge is just that — a challenge. But it’s not an insurmountable one. At O’Connell Law, LLC, we can help you achieve your goals for the future, providing proper protection for you and your loved ones.
Call us today to learn more about the other pieces in that puzzle. There’s a lot to talk about, but we’ll make it as easy as possible for you.
