Long-Term Care Reality Check
You might think that your estate plan adequately accounts for long-term care insurance, but you probably have an unrealistic view of how much you have to pay. According to a recent report on the CNBC Personal Finance website, 57 percent of the people who retired in 2024 will eventually need to spend more than three months in a nursing home at some point in their lives. Of the survey participants who had accounted for long-term care in their estate plans, the average amount they thought they needed to save for long-term care expenses was $25,000. Meanwhile, the mean amount spent on long-term care is $122,000 per person, although the amount varies widely by individual. People who require multiple years of long-term care can rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in nursing home bills, while patients who require more than $100,000 of long-term care represent only 15 percent of the senior population. For help making realistic plans to cope with the cost of long-term care, contact a Washington, D.C. estate planning lawyer.
Long-Term Care Costs More Than You Think It Does, and Medicare Doesn’t Pay
The costs cited in the CNBC Personal Finance article are the out-of-pocket costs. Medicare covers many medical expenses, but seniors are still on the hook for most of the costs of long-term care. When you first read the brochures to choose a Medicare plan, this is not always obvious. Many Medicare plans pay for skilled nursing care, but skilled nursing care is only part of what makes long-term care so expensive. It includes services such as administering medication by injection or IV, the kinds of tasks that healthy people would not need someone to do, and for which most people cannot rely on the help of family caregivers. Medicare pays for a total of 100 days of skilled nursing care, which can include home health aide visits or stays in a nursing home.
Medicare does not pay for custodial care, which is what seniors tend to need for an even longer time than skilled care. Custodial care is assistance with the tasks of daily living, namely eating, dressing, mobility, bathing, and using the toilet. People who require help with at least two of these tasks either need residential nursing home care, or else they must rely heavily on the caregiving efforts of relatives.
Do You Still Need Long-Term Care Insurance If You Plan to Age in Place?
The main ways of paying for long-term care are your own savings, Medicaid, and long-term care insurance. You can avoid using the first two if you buy a long-term care insurance policy. The most affordable long-term care insurance policies are hybrid life insurance policies where you can use the money to pay for your long-term care, and if anything is left of the policy amount after you die, it becomes a life insurance payout for your family.
Contact Tobin O’Connor Ewing About Long-Term Care Expenses
A Washington, D.C. estate planning attorney can help you pay for long-term care without breaking the bank. Contact Tobin, O’Connor, and Ewing in Washington, D.C. or call 202-362-5900.
Source:
cnbc.com/2025/05/17/why-long-term-care-costs-can-be-a-huge-problem.html
