| Long Term Care (LTC) does not mean nursing | | | | talking about 1/10th of one per cent of the Baby |
| homes, assisted living centers, and home health care. | | | | Boomers. If they just double their capacity, and that |
| It means that someone needs assistance and | | | | would be on a "resource available" basis, because |
| someone to provide that assistance. LTC means that | | | | they are already full. Where will the money come |
| the need for assistance will extend beyond thirty | | | | from? Where will the health care workers come |
| days. It means that regardless of age you might | | | | from? The largest segment of our population is going |
| need someone to care for you. Traffic accidents, | | | | to become senior citizens. |
| industrial mishaps, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, | | | | But that's not the scary part. Current figures on Long |
| Alzheimer's, and a host of other catastrophes happen | | | | Term Care show that only 13% of LTC insurance |
| to people every day, leaving thousands of people | | | | payouts go to nursing homes today. The US |
| disabled. These unfortunate people require LTC. If | | | | Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) |
| you pick up the newspaper almost any day you will | | | | says that 50-60 % of all seniors will require LTC |
| read about a person in their 20s or 30s that just had | | | | before they die. That's between 35 and 42 million |
| a heart attack or a stroke. You don't get over a | | | | Boomers. Just Boomers. We're looking at 50-60% |
| stroke like you get over a cold. You need | | | | where we are paying out to 13 % today. And the |
| rehabilitation and that takes time. A long time. | | | | real issue is that only about 10 % of that 70 million |
| Do more older people need long term care? Sure. As | | | | actually have Long Term Care insurance, so when |
| over 70,000,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 there will be | | | | the rest of them run out of cash to pay for their |
| a need beyond anybody's wildest dreams. We're | | | | care, the Government is going to have to find a way |
| talking about one person in four in America today will | | | | to fund it. WE THE PEOPLE will have to fund long |
| be turning 65, and that doesn't address the war | | | | term care for about 35,000,000 more Americans. |
| babies and other folks that are already retired. | | | | The more people that provide for themselves when |
| Remember what happened to school systems all | | | | they are younger, the less the drain will be on our |
| over the country when the Boomer generation | | | | economy when they become old folks. If a 40 year |
| started growing up? We built more new schools | | | | old man buys long term care insurance at about $900 |
| every year for two decades, now we have closed | | | | yr, he will be covered for his lifetime and pay less |
| over half of them. If there are enough facilities for | | | | than a 65 year old man buying it, assuming they don't |
| the Baby Boomers how will we staff them? | | | | use it until age 80. If the 40 year old man needs it |
| Here's a good example: The Veteran's Administration | | | | during that period, he has it, but the 65 year old |
| (VA) houses 35,000 veterans every day. If they | | | | might not even be eligible to buy it for the same |
| double that, if they just double that number, we're | | | | reason that the younger man used it. |