Millions of Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age and the cost of long term care is soaring, you would believe that sales of Private long term care Insurance would be going up as well but they’re not. So why is the number of people buying long term care insurance declining?
Misconceptions About Private Long Term Care Insurance
1. They assume Medicare will cover them.
According to a previous research by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 34% assumed that Medicare would cover ongoing nursing home care, while 27% were unsure. Medicare will not cover long term care in a nursing home or at home.
2. They still think that they won’t need it.
It’s only right to for people not to want to pay premiums for something they’re not sure they’ll ever use. However, with car insurance, for example, you’ll be happier that you never needed to use it but it gives you the peace of mind that you have it in case you need it.
3. They think self-funding is easy.
The cost of long term care continues to rise, which makes long term care insurance important more than ever.
These costs would easily wipe out most retirement savings in less than a year.
4. Some assume they can rely on Medicaid.
Many people have decided that if they will ever need private long term care insurance coverage, they will just rely on Medicaid after they’ve depleted their assets.
But if you think about it, after working your whole life to pay off your house and save a little for retirement, do you think that blowing everything off to get three years of coverage and end your life broke in a nursing home is something you planned on?
5. They assume their children will take care of them.
Parents who are in their late 60s or early 70s may have children between the ages of 30 to 40 and most likely will be busy with other matters such as work or their own family, which leaves them no time to take care of their parents. Based on a survey by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, two-thirds of Older Americans are confident that they can rely on them when they get older.
6. They think their children will pay for their care.
Again, many older parents will have children who will be preoccupied with taking care of their own families and will also be financially incapable of paying for long term care. Around 20% of older Americans believe that family members should be responsible for paying for their long term care expenses.
7.They think private long term care insurance costs too much.
What many don’t know is that private long term care insurance offers flexible benefits which let you customize your plan to fit your budget and that not having long term care insurance will cost even more.
Here are some options that can help you bring down premiums
- Increase elimination period
- Decrease inflation protection
- Decrease the daily benefit amount
- Decrease benefit period
Long term care insurance is changing before our very eyes and the need for long term care is not going away. It’s time for you to drop all these assumptions and start comparing long term care insurance from top insurance companies.
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