Will You Need Long-Term Care?
Due to advances in our medical technology, our society has been blessed with an increasing average life span. Today, we are living almost twice as long as our ancestors did only 100 years ago. Unfortunately, along with this comes the drawback that the longer we live, the more likely we will need long-term care before we die.
This section addresses your risk of needing long-term care as well as the average length of time that people need long-term care. It also covers how our aging population increases the need for long-term care and how families are not equipped to handle their needs.
“It is unlikely the federal government will have the resources to pay for the care of the estimated 3.2 million elderly who will reside in a nursing home in 2010.”
Retirement in the New Century” Best’s Review, 1999
"What are my odds of needing long-term care?"
It is human nature to think that YOU will never need long-term care. After all, things like that happen to OTHER people, right? That is what most of us would like to believe. Because we don’t think it will happen to us, we are often reluctant to plan ahead for future long-term care needs. The reality is that there is a strong possibility that you will need some type of long-term care at some point in your life.
“While the general population perceives the risk of needing long-term care services to be less than 25%, the actual risk for needing long-term care (either home care or nursing home care) is greater than 50%."
LifePlans, Inc. January 2001 as seen in The LTC Planning Guide by Phyllis Shelton 2001
"Who is at risk for needing long-term care? Isn’t it just older people?"
While there are a lot of older people that need long-term care, it is important not to overlook that young people can need long-term care too. It is never too early to plan for your future long-term care needs. Some common reasons that young people can need long-term care are: strokes, Parkinson’s disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and accidents to name just a few.
When Caring Isn't Enough - American Academy of Actuaries, January 1999 Percent of Working-Age Adults Needing LTC
"I can’t see myself in a nursing home. I’d rather jump off of a bridge or shoot myself!"
Most people have a hard time admitting that they could need long-term care because they associate long-term care with nursing homes. None of us can imagine ourselves being in nursing homes. In fact, we live our lives promising our parents that we will NEVER put them in a nursing home. A nursing home is the LAST place we would like to receive care.
The good news is that a nursing home is probably the last place you will have to go. Today, there are so many more options that weren’t available before. Now it is possible to stay at home or live in an assisted living facility, rather than go to a nursing home. Many people are more realistic about seeing themselves needing long-term care in their home.
82% of long-term care takes place in the home, adult day care centers, and assisted living facilities. 18% of long-term care takes place in nursing homes.
Agency for Health Care Research and Quality Sept. 2000 as seen in The Long-Term Care Planning Guide, Phyllis Shelton, 2001
How Long Will You Need Long-Term Care?
Unfortunately, no one has a crystal ball so we can never be sure how long you could need long-term care. We can look at some statistics to see what some of the nursing home “averages” are, but that is no guarantee that if you needed long-term care you wouldn't be 'above average', or 'below average'.
| Length of Stay | Nursing Home Patients (%) |
|---|---|
| Less than 3 months | 17.6% |
| 3-6 months | 9.7% |
| 6-12 months | 14.8% |
| 1-3 years | 30.3% |
| 3-5 years | 13.6% |
| 5+ years | 14.0% |
Source: The 1997 National Nursing Home Survey, National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (as seen in The LTC Planning Guide by Phyllis Shelton, 2001) |
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There have been a lot of studies on the average length of stay in a nursing home, but it is difficult to get studies that show how long people need care in assisted living facilities or in their homes.
An important point to note is that long-term care usually starts out in the home. Therefore, it is important to consider the length of time you may need care at home BEFORE you entered a nursing home and not base your planning on only nursing home statistics.
“One out of four caregivers in a 1998 national home care survey reported providing care longer than five years.”
The Caregiving Boom, Baby Boomer Women Giving Care, National Alliance For Caregiving, September 1998 as seen in the LTC Planning Guide by Phyllis Shelton, 2001
America’s Future Long-Term Care Needs
Long-term care is more of an issue now then it ever was in the past due to our aging population. We are living much longer now then we ever did before. Along with living longer, our odds for needing long-term care increase. Many times people wrongly assume that because no one in their family needed long-term care, they won’t. What people forget is that in the past maybe their family members didn’t live long enough to require long-term care! As we live longer, our odds of needing long-term care increase.
“Currently, there are 35 million people over 65, some 13% of the population. By 2030, the number will grow to 70 Million, or one-fifth of the population.”
National Academy on an Aging Society January 1999 as quoted in The LTC Planning Guide by Phyllis Shelton, 2001
“There are 72,000 Americans over the age of 100, and that number is expected to triple in 20 years.”
Centenarians in the United States, Census Bureau, July 1999
Protect Your Family from the Toll of Long-Term Care
When we look into the past at our parents, grandparents, or great-grand parents, long-term care didn’t seem to be as big of an issue as it is today. This could be due to the fact that families were able to take care of their loved ones if they lived long enough to need long-term care. Our families have changed a lot over the years, making it more difficult for families to take on the responsibility of care giving. There are many challenges that families face that make it difficult to take care of their loved ones.
Two Family Incomes - Women in the Workplace
In the past, women did not always have to work and were able to care for their parents, or their spouse’s parents. Now, in order to survive in today’s world, many times both the husband and wife need to work. If the wife is working it makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for her to be the primary caregiver. If she tries to accomplish both, often her work will suffer which can result in substantial financial losses.
Divorce
In America, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of divorces. Divorce leaves a lot of single-family parents. These single-family parents face a difficult job raising a family on their own while trying to work a full-time job to support their family. Imagine if they were burdened with providing care to a loved one as well!
Fewer Children
In the past, people had more children than we are having today. It was normal to have three, four, or more children. If a parent needed long-term care, there was a greater chance that at least one of those children could provide care. In today’s world we are not having as many children, thereby decreasing the odds that one of them would be available to provide long-term care.
Geographical Separation
In the past, families usually lived in the same communities, or not far away. If a parent needed long-term care there was usually a family member living nearby that could step in and help out. In today’s world, our families are spread out across the country. If Mom and Dad live in California and their children live in Florida and New York, you can see how difficult it would be for the children to participate in the care giving without having to pick up and move and leave behind their current lives.
