When I think of long term care I picture the elderly who may be very sick and need on the clock assistance down to the man or woman who just needs occasional assistance with daily activties. I think long term care is a wide spectrum of things, people, and facilities. Long term care insurance has been a hot topic recently and for a number of reasons. Just as the cost of food, housing, and everything else you can think of is rising so is the cost of long term care. Currently the yearly cost is approximately $55,000. That is so crazy to me! $55,000 is someone's salary and to think that in retirement people are having to pay this ridiculous amount just blows me. Now granted some people have done very well for themselves and have saved up enough money, but that is only said for a small part of the population.
The second reason long term care insurance is a big thing is because of the baby boomers. At the year 2030 the youngest of the boomers will be 65 years old. It is projected that they will live well into their 90's. Since there has been advances in technology and topics in the health field the elderly have been able to live longer than they have in the past. With that being said costs are going to rise with such a large pool of the elderly. Financial advisors are now telling people that they should think about long term care insurance for their future. Lastly, the LTC system has been able to introduce new types of care. One of the things people look for (as far as care when they are older) is comfort. LTC offers services where you can stay at home or go to assisted living facilities.
I think that the LTC system has come a long way and with anything there is always the good and the bad. Since the Great Depression we have had important acts such as Social Security Act and Amendments of 1935, 1965 (respectively). Before these were introduced much of the elderly had poverty to look forward to in their retirement. I believe there are still elders now who live in or below poverty levels, but there are families available to take care of them and facilities.
Long term care is a very important part of our lives. The elderly should be the treasures of our society because they are our grandmothers and grandfathers. They took care of us and guided up when we were little so I believe that it is out duty as a country to take care of them. For example in the Asian culture they look up and highly respect their elderly. I think the the U.S. should adopt some of their values (in that perspective) and learn to really care about people again.
