The LTC Pledge
for Baby Boomers
Check if Applicable
- I am an American Baby Boomer (born between 1946 and 1964).
- I know the aging of my generation will place great stress on America's
social insurance programs including Social Security and Medicare.
- I know that providing and paying for long-term care (LTC) for aged and
disabled baby boomers will be especially difficult for the government and
for individuals and their families.
- I know that friends and families provide 80% of LTC in their homes, which
places a huge emotional and financial burden on wives and daughters
especially.
- I know that the probability of needing 5 years or more of nursing home
care after age 65 is almost 1 in 10 and that the need for care in an
assisted living facility may be even higher.
- I know that the average annual cost of nursing home care in the U.S. is
over $55,000, that assisted living costs nearly $30,000 per year, and that
these rates will undoubtedly increase.
- I know that Medicaid pays for 3/4 of all nursing home patient days, but
that it rarely funds the home and community-based care or assisted living
which the elderly prefer.
- I know that Medicaid is a means-tested public assistance program (welfare)
that requires strict income and asset limits, and imposes severe penalties
for transferring assets to qualify.
- I know Medicaid is intended only for the needy and that people who shelter
assets to qualify must repay the program from their estates (including the
value of their homes) when they die.
- I know that Medicaid's rules for LTC eligibility are elastic, however, and
that the non-poor often qualify, especially with the aid of Medicaid estate
planning lawyers.
- I know that Medicaid-financed nursing home care has a reputation for
serious problems of access, quality, reimbursement, discrimination,
institutional bias, and welfare stigma.
- I know that Medicaid faces severe funding deficiencies and that nursing
homes across America are declaring bankruptcy for lack of adequate public
financing.
- I know that the likelihood of a new entitlement program to pay for quality
LTC is nil, because the government must save the Social Security and
Medicare programs first.
- I know that people who pay privately for LTC command red-carpet access to
top-quality care and they can choose between the best home care, assisted
living, and nursing facilities.
- I know that discussing the risk of LTC with parents is extremely difficult
and that considering the possibility I may need such help someday myself is
even tougher.
- I know I want my family to be part of the LTC solution, not part of the
problem.
Therefore:
- I pledge that I will start working on the problem of paying for LTC no
later than age 40 and that I will have a solution (LTC insurance or a very
large, earmarked estate) by age 50.
- I pledge that I will discuss the risks of needing LTC and the rewards of
paying privately for care with my parents and with my siblings.
- I pledge that I will explore the alternatives available to me for
financing my family's LTC, including private insurance, home equity
conversion and self-insurance (savings and investment).
- I pledge that I will help my parents protect their nest egg (my
inheritance) from the ravages of LTC by contributing to the cost of their
insurance premiums or their long-term care.
- I pledge that I will not retain a Medicaid planning attorney to impoverish
my parents prematurely and put them in a nursing home on welfare, if and
when they need LTC.
or…
- I already own private long-term care insurance.
This LTC Pledge for Baby Boomers was prepared by the Center for Long-Term
Care Financing in Seattle, Washington. The Center's mission is to encourage
private financing of long-term care and to reduce middle-class dependency on
Medicaid.
We do not endorse particular LTC insurance carriers, but we will provide a
list of leading companies and their phone numbers upon request. The Center also
publishes a free online newsletter called "LTC Bullets" which anyone
is welcome to receive.
For more information about the Center for Long-Term Care Financing, including
our speakers' bureau, publications and online newsletter, please consult our web
site at www.centerltc.org/ or call 206-283-7036.
Center for Long-Term Care Financing
2212 Queen Anne Avenue North, #110
Seattle, Washington 98109-2802
Phone: 206-283-7036
Fax: 206-283-6536
Email: info@centerltc.org
Web site: www.centerltc.org
The Center for Long-Term Care Financing does not endorse particular
LTC insurance carriers, but we will provide a list of insurance
companies/brokers and their phone numbers upon request.
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