Long-Term Care: Expense, Emotions Part Of Planning Dilemma

English: Spending on U.S. healthcare as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: House Bill and Senate Bill subsidies for health insurance premiums. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

US residents with employer-based private health insurance, with self insurance, with Medicare or Medicaid or military health care and uninsured in Million; U.S. Census bureau: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Topics: Delivery of Care, Health Costs, Insurance, Aging

Mar 26, 2013

In other news, NPR explores the nation’s high disability rate.

The New York Times: Expense And Emotions In Preparing For Long-Term Care
The emotional impact of witnessing the decline of a family member or helping to care for one is often the reason people seek coverage for long-term care, people who work in the aging field say (Carrns, 3/25).

The Fiscal Times: The Health Care Dilemma That Could Bankrupt Women
Nancy S. Buck, a 62-year-old divorced woman from Aurora, Colorado, wants to purchase long-term health care insurance because she doesn’t want to be a financial burden on her children. But right now, that’s not possible, since she’s self-employed, earns only $20,000 a year (too much to qualify for Medicaid), and can barely afford the $450-a-month payment for basic health insurance…As difficult as it has been for single women like Buck to afford long-term health care insurance, it’s about to get harder (Halpert, 3/25).

NPR: Unfit for Work: The Startling Rise Of Disability In America (A four-part series)
In the past three decades, the number of Americans who are on disability has skyrocketed. The rise has come even as medical advances have allowed many more people to remain on the job, and new laws have banned workplace discrimination against the disabled. Every month, 14 million people now get a disability check from the government (Joffe-Walt, 3/26).

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