Long Term Care and Its Importance to You

With more Americans living longer lives, their likely need for long-term care increases.

For consumers who visit 2insure4less.com for their insurance needs, they have access to affordable and quality long-term care insurance quotes. If you're in need of LTC quotes, you've definitely landed in the right place.

According to a recent Prudential study, as retirement savings have suffered a major hit in recent years, the expense of long-term care services has kept rising, leading a large number of Americans to doubt their ability to meet possible services they'll need down the road.

The study, "Long-Term Care Insurance: A Piece of the Retirement & Estate Planning Puzzle,' reports 71 percent of those asked have concerns regarding the possibility of requiring extended care service. Meantime, 63 percent report not having confidence in their ability to pay for this need.

According to a Prudential spokesperson, "There's no question that as Baby Boomers age and approach retirement, one critical component to their financial plan - sometimes overlooked with dire consequences - is how to protect retirement savings, income, choice, and independence from the impact of a long-term illness or disability.'

As Prudential points out, meeting the challenges of potential LTC needs necessitates preparation, including the right retirement planning, understanding the expenses of both long-term services and insurance, and the desire to talk about available planning options.

The study goes on to note the disturbing lack of knowledge as it relates to cost and funding options for LTC services.

On average, respondents believe the average daily cost for a semi-private room in a nursing home is $450 - more than double the actual average of $215. Meantime, more than one-third think that a mix of private health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid will cover any future extended care costs, when in reality, consumers can expect minimal coverage from all but Medicaid.

Consumers should keep in mind that the expense of an individual policy differs significantly by age at time it is obtained.

Sixty-percent of those who took part in the survey greatly overestimated the annual expense for the oldest of individuals. The other 40 percent were so unsure they were not even able to offer a guess.

According to Prudential's spokesperson, the misconceptions that many consumers have regarding the role of private insurance and government programs, along with actual expense of care and insurance, might add to a failure to act. "Despite years of publicity and privately funded efforts to raise consumer awareness about the importance of planning for long-term care needs, Americans seem to understand almost all forms of insurance better than they do long-term care insurance. As a result, greater education is needed about the actual costs of long-term care and realistic funding options. The good news is that 77 percent of those surveyed in our study acknowledge they should know more.'

The Prudential survey goes on to note that those individuals who presently have LTC insurance are two times as likely to be "highly confident' regarding their ability to pay for extended care services down the road without emptying their personal assets or retirement savings.

If you haven't shopped for LTC insurance to this point, the time might be right to visit 2insure4less.com and see how we can help point you in the right direction.