Long term health care insurance – Why you need it!

A man goes into a bar at near midnight, has a number of drinks and falls off of the bar stool

He crawls down the street heading home, crawls up the stairs of his home, into the house and up the stairs to his bedroom and then into bed.

Early the next morning as he is getting up his wife walks into the room and says ”Larry, the Bar you were in last night just called and said that you left your wheelchair there when you left there early this morning.

He sits up in bed and screams out “Thank God, I thought I was drunk!!!!

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Among the many steps one needs to take to prepare for Old Age is to make certain that when the time comes their financial affairs are in order and that they have the money needed to cover the ever rising cost of aging. 

Almost invariably when speaking with Older persons and their families during my research for my upcoming book I was told how sorry they were that they did not consider Long Term Care Insurance either at all, or as they aged and discovered how badly it was needed , but that it was far to costly late in life.

In our case, as a result of my wife Anna’s work, we were offered such a policy when I was in my early 50’s and she was in her late 40’s. We knew little about such insurance, but we signed up anyway-probably the most important healthcare financial decision we ever made.

What is Long Term Healthcare Insurance and why do we need it? Consider this; as we approach our 50’s subtle changes begin to occur in our health, including but not limited to Alzheimer’s disease and early Dementia, or other aging issues.

At some point I the ensuing years as our health declines we find that we can no longer care for ourselves and have needed to hire a home healthcare giver, or enter into a long term care facility. In either case the cost is prohibitive for most persons, even though they think that their other insurance plans, or their savings will cover this need.

The cost of paying for such service could be as high as $4,000-$7,000 a month, per person – are you really prepared to pay out that kind of money? Think about it. If we had not, even though it was by sheer accident that we did it, taken out Long Term Care Insurance at an early age. I cannot even begin to guess at what problems I would face today.

Be aware that because of the growing high cost of healthcare, many Insurance companies are not only increasing the monthly premiums and limiting the number of months they will cover, but also putting other restrictions and limits on the coverage. Anna and I were fortunate to have been able to purchase a policy that has no lifetime limitation-imagine what that means to a person at a time we are living so much longer…

My dear readers run-do not walk-to your phone and contact your insurance provider immediately and begin, no matter your age, the process of purchasing a policy. I am not in any way affiliated with a Long Term Care Insurance provider, but I have lived the experience and urge you to take my advice on this matter.

Bernard S. Otis is the Author of the new best selling Book “How to Prepare for Old Age—-Without Taking the Fun Out of Life” (Amazon and Barnes and Noble)