LOL, time is on none of our sides!!! I view LTC, important, but merely, in most cases "X" number of future payments, so I am planning on that. I am assuming a max number of 48 monthly payments (for wife and I) which would include our SS + RMD and withdrawl from our assets. We may only need a few months, who knows?
Do single and/or childfree people need LTC?
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LOL, time is on none of our sides!!! I view LTC, important, but merely, in most cases "X" number of future payments, so I am planning on that. I am assuming a max number of 48 monthly payments (for wife and I) which would include our SS + RMD and withdrawl from our assets. We may only need a few months, who knows?
athena53
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My concern is that, for people who rely on public funding for eldercare, the publicly-funded versions will get worse in the future because governments (i.e. taxpayers) wil have a hard time paying for it. Right now LTC facilities accept Medicaid patients because they have to do so in order to get Medicare rehab business, which pays a lot better. If the government compels LTC facilities to accept a higher % of Medicaid patients, or cuts back its Medicaid payments, or requires them to accept those who can private pay for shorter times, I can see the development of more places that accept only private pay. Those will be the ones with gyms, Wi-Fi, libraries and indoor pools. The others will resemble warehouses.
My plan is to have a choice and not leave it up to the government.
googily
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Yeah, unfortunately all of that is certainly a possibility, just widening a gulf that has already opened up.
I’m married but we don’t have LTC. Our reasons are:
- If only one of us needed care, expenses for both would decrease dramatically as we’ve budgeted for travel, eating out, etc. to continue as we age.
- Our SS, pension, and investment income should be sufficient with a sizable cushion
- If not, we own an oceanfront condo in So CA that a reverse mortgage could be taken out on
- Neither of us wants to linger on for years and years in a SNF or Dementia Care facility. It is my hope that by the time we are at this point, if that ever happens, there will be a more humane way to allow end of life to occur with dignity and we would make that choice.
- Worst case, if our resources ran out and we had to go on Medicaid after being in LTC for a lengthy stay, at that point I doubt we would care where we were.
- The delivery of eldercare is changing a lot, partly driven by consumer wants and partly by limited funding available to subsidize this care. I’m not confident that today’s LTC policies will be relevant in 25-35 years, when DH and I are likely to need care.
Only time will tell if we are choosing well.
- If only one of us needed care, expenses for both would decrease dramatically as we’ve budgeted for travel, eating out, etc. to continue as we age.
- Our SS, pension, and investment income should be sufficient with a sizable cushion
- If not, we own an oceanfront condo in So CA that a reverse mortgage could be taken out on
- Neither of us wants to linger on for years and years in a SNF or Dementia Care facility. It is my hope that by the time we are at this point, if that ever happens, there will be a more humane way to allow end of life to occur with dignity and we would make that choice.
- Worst case, if our resources ran out and we had to go on Medicaid after being in LTC for a lengthy stay, at that point I doubt we would care where we were.
- The delivery of eldercare is changing a lot, partly driven by consumer wants and partly by limited funding available to subsidize this care. I’m not confident that today’s LTC policies will be relevant in 25-35 years, when DH and I are likely to need care.
Only time will tell if we are choosing well.
This is not true in CA. It probably varies by state.
In 2014 we investigated 9 facilities, both for-profit and non-profit, that provided both Asst. Lvg and Skilled Care/Memory Care. My MIL had mild dementia and we wanted to make sure she would not need to ever be moved out. Change is extremely difficult for dementia patients; they often have (as she did) very high anxiety levels as their "world" narrows and life becomes more visually/socially confusing.
None of the facilities took Medicaid-only patients - not a single one. You needed to be in good enough health to live with only a moderate level of assistance (some facilities insisted you had to be capable of independent living or you would be refused) and show that you had sufficient assets to last a "reasonable" time period.
"Reasonable" was usually defined as 5-7 yrs, assumed at the highest cost units.
Interestingly, we found similar prices at the facilities for Independent Lvg. and even Asst. Lvg. costs were within an overall range. Where the facilities differed was Skilled Care (nursing) and Memory Care. Non-profits were markedly lower in cost than for-profits.
The other difference? Non-profits were generally (not all of them) willing to keep indigent residents as charity patients once the money ran out. They would apply for Medicaid reimbursement and make up the difference out of the Charity category of the General Fund.
The for-profits were brisk and business-like (since most are chains). You run out of $$$, you must leave. They will work with the state Social Services to put you in the very next Medicaid facility that has an opening come up. You have no choice; if the only facility is 100 miles away, then off you go.
Not a single for-profit facility had a Charity Fund.
