There’s a significant chance that you might never need Long Term Care. Based on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, your chances of needing LTC can be summed up as follows:
For people who are about 65 years old, there’s a 50% chance of needing nursing home care at one day.
- Only 15% will stay there for 5 years or more.
- Americans are aging – modern medicine is keeping us alive longer, thus increasing chances that you might need long-term care.
- About 71% of all LTC Insurance Claims are by women.
- Based on U.S Census infroamtion, America’s elderly population grew 11x between 1900 and 1994.
- 22% of people who are 85 years or older are attending a nursing home now.
The probability that you’ll need nursing home stay increases with age. Having a Long Term Care Insurance plan in place is a great way to prepare for the post-retirement future.
Why Long Term Care is Increasingly a Women’s Issue
It’s common knowledge that women outlive men by almost 5 years. Taking this into account, women have a 50% higher chance of needing nursing home care after the age of 65. While age definitely increases your Long Term Care chances for all Americans, over 70% of all LTC claims in the country were from women. This makes it increasingly important for women to plan for retirement.
Fun Fact: 40 percent of the 13 million Americans getting long term care services are aged between 18 and 65 years. That’s according to the U.S. Government Accounting Office.