Planning for long-term care helps identify what service options are available in your community, as well as what special conditions may apply for receiving services (e.g., age, cost, payment options). Obtaining this information is good preparation for the time when a person will be needing long-term care. It will help you understand what choices you have, and control over what, where, and how you receive the services you will need.

About 70 percent of people over the age of 65 require some services. The likelihood of needing care increases as we age. Planning is critical because the cost of long-term care services often exceeds what the average person can pay from income and other resources. If you plan ahead, you may be able to save your assets and income for uses other than long-term care.

With effective planning, there is of course greater likelihood of being able to preserve your estate for your loved ones, by minimizing the costs of paying for long-term care. It also translates to less financial stress and emotional wear-and-tear on you and your family. The chances of being able to stay at home as long as possible and within your community will be much greater. Most importantly, it helps ensure a greater degree of independence if and when you need care.

Despite the importance of planning, a lot of people fail to do so. There are many reasons for this shortcoming. People have a natural tendency to avoid thinking of unpleasant things, of being dependent on others as we age. We don’t like to think about getting older, being disabled, becoming less independent, or needing help with our own personal care. There is also a lot of existing misinformation about long-term care needs, as well as their costs and payment options associated with these services.

For example, most people have no idea how expensive long-term care can be, and how it is paid. Many seniors don’t realize that health insurance, Medicare, and/or disability coverage do not pay for most long-term care services. Medicaid (Medi-Cal) pays for some long-term care services, but only if one qualifies due to income  and financial resource limitations.

Planning for long-term care is a difficult subject of conversation in most families. Adult children may hesitate to bring up the subject, for fear that they may be patronizing their parents. They may think that their eagerness to bring up this topic may be misconstrued as not wanting to provide care for their parents “when the time comes.” Parents may not want discuss the details of their financial life with their children. It may also be as simple as not knowing how to go about the planning process itself.

In future posts, we will talk about some of the key information and resources you need to know in order to plan ahead…