Long Term Care Planning

This is the first article in an ongoing series focused on long-term care planning.  Over time, we will cover the planning considerations of this issue and provide helpful information should you or your family ever find yourself in need of nursing care and support services. 

There has been a significant increase in interest in this topic over the past few years.  More and more people are reaching out to us to learn about how to proactively plan and prepare.  I thought a good introduction to the topic would be to highlight three of the main reasons for the increased interest and why you may want to consider this as part of your planning. 

1.      Risk

The need for nursing care and support is generally considered to be a concern for the older generation.  While it is true that much of the care is delivered to individuals after age 80, the risk of needing nursing support is not exclusive to the elderly.  Cancer, auto accidents, and COVID long haulers are just a few examples of the incidents that can create the need for care at any age.    

No one is exempt from the risk, and it increases as we age. 

2.      Caregivers and Care Receivers

Long-term care events touch many lives.  More than just the person in need of care, it affects the many people in the patient’s orbit.   Spouses, children, grandchildren, and other family members are also impacted.  It can impact this group financially, emotionally and it can have an influence on relationships.  For every one person that needs care, there can be 2 or 5 or 8 others that are directly affected.

There is an adage around this planning topic that is pretty accurate.  It may not be 100% true, but it summarizes the broad impact this has on so many lives. 

Everyone at some point in their lifetime will either be a caregiver or a care receiver.  And, most likely, both. 

3.      Expense

Nursing care is expensive and has been historically increasing over time, however, that is beginning to change as a function of supply and demand. 

The aging population is driving up the demand for care services.  The curse of longevity.  The longer we are alive, the higher the likelihood we will need assistance for either a physical impairment and/or a cognitive decline. 

Couple that with an already serious issue in health care, the declining supply of qualified caregivers, and this shortage is expected to persist well into the future.  As care providers (nursing homes, assisted living, etc.) compete for staff there is a need to increase wages and provide more benefits.  Those increased costs, of course, will be passed on to the patients and residents. 

Further compounding this issue, the senior tsunami has not even hit the shore.  The oldest baby boomer is in their late 70’s, so that age group is not in the prime years of care utilization yet.  In 5 to 10 years the demand for nursing care services will be considerably higher than it is today, likely causing a spike in the cost of care. 

The need for nursing care and support is a topic that is easy, perhaps convenient, to ignore.  It commonly does not become an issue until later in life, so we procrastinate when we are younger.  It is certainly not a pleasant issue to ponder.  No one wants to envision themselves in a nursing home and dependent on others for our daily care.  It is much easier to stick our head in the sand and avoid it all together.  

Our goal in shining a light on it is to build awareness while hopefully reducing resistance to planning.  The more you are prepared the better you will be able to handle the emotional stress and the negative financial impact.   

The risk, the likelihood you will be impacted, and the cost are all high. 

Too high to ignore.