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| 5 Myths About Long Term Care You Need to Know |
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Many Americans have misconceptions about how they can prepare for long
term care. A false sense of security created by these myths leads many
to unnecessary financial, physical and emotional loss. Plan now and plan
realistically
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| Myth 1 - The government or health insurance will cover me. |
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Medicare, conventional health insurance and HMOs mainly cover only
skilled or acute care provided by nursing homes and home health care
agencies, but most long term care is not skilled care and is not covered
by these sources. Medicaid has strict asset and income limitations and
requirements before it will cover long term care expenses.
To get an idea of exactly how strict Medicaid is see our
Medicaid qualification calculator
to see what you would be required to spend before the government would
pay anything.
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| Myth 2 - I'll be able to pay for it. |
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A recent study showed that more than 70% of those individuals entering a
nursing home deplete their savings and other assets to fund one year of
care there.1 Care delivered at home can be equally expensive.
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| Myth 3 - It won't happen to me, and besides I'm too young. |
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A long term illness or accidental injury could intrude upon anyone's life
at anytime. 40% of people receiving long term health care are between the
ages of 18 and 64.
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| Myth 4 - My family will take care of me. |
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Family caregiving has changed dramatically in the past 30 years. Today,
time, distance and both spouses working have made it much more difficult
for many families to provide all the care needed.
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| Myth 5 - I cannot afford long term care insurance. |
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Long term care insurance can seem expensive, but the cost of not having
it can be much greater. For example, a person could easily spend more
than $50,000 in one year alone on long term care services, whether at
home or in a nursing home.2
1 U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, Cash Crunch: The
Financial Challenge of Long Term Care for Baby Boomers, March 1, 1998.
2 Health Care Financing Administration 1997 statistics.
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