Long-term care insurance is a form of insurance that pays daily premiums to its policyholders to cover the cost of their regular assisted care, such as dressing, feeding, and overall nursing needs. Unlike traditional health insurance, long-term care insurance has been overlooked, and this is because it is perceived as expensive in comparison to what it offers. The aging population and their families, in particular, put more focus on getting health insurance and pension benefits for their family members and in the long run, neglect getting long-term care insurance as a necessity and important aspect of ensuring that the aging, get a quality life in their aging years (What is Long-term Care Insurance? – Long-Term Care Information, 2020).
The idea of assisted living for the aged is overlooked both by the aging and their families. Especially for the aging, no one likes to think of themselves being in a state that they will need feeding, have to depend on someone to bathe them and later on dress them. Everyone wants to be independent, and therefore selling them the idea of getting long-term care insurance is not taken seriously. As for the close family members and friends, they always think of long-term care as paying someone to take care of their keen something that they truly believe should be their responsibility. They fail to realize that caring for aging can take a toll on their lives and affect their quality of life, which would not happen if they had long-term care insurance.
According to Ranzijn (2002), the environment is crucial in ensuring that the aging population ages properly. With old age comes the risk of developing health complications. This leads to the aging needing to live in nursing homes and communities for the aged, and this means that they will be away from their family members. Most Americans after retirement choose to live in communal homes for the aged, and as time goes by, they may need nursing care and care in general, and this is where long-term care insurance comes in. Having long-term care insurance in such living arrangements ensures that the aging gets their needs catered for, be it getting a bath, being fed, and other forms of care. At the same time, the family members can go on with their lives without being in constant worry that their aged relatives are not cared for. With long-term care insurance, the age’s environment is made better since the aged can get their needs catered for; therefore, they can have a quality life.
One of the reasons why most aging people and keen prefer not to have long-term care insurance is because it is expensive, and there are other alternatives (Johnson 2016). The nature of long-term insurance care is that premiums are made over long periods and, therefore, put a dent on the living expenses of the aging. With the aging not working, it becomes difficult to make payments and even tougher on their family members who also have needed to meet. The other alternatives to not having long-term care insurance are hiring a caregiver, which may be short term or long-term or caring for the aging family member by the family members, which may be strenuous to them.
In all scenarios, having long-term care insurance is the best option since, with aging, one is at risk of needing assisted care. Even though most people argue that it is expensive, looking at the bigger picture reveals why it is important. Long-term care insurance enables the aging and their families to plan for any abrupt health complications that may lead to the need for assisted care and also saves the family members and the aging money since short term care such as hiring a care nurse is more expensive as compared to having one pay for the long-term care insurance premiums. The implication that long-term care insurance has on family members is that they can go on with their lives instead of putting their lives on hold to care for their ages. Long-term care insurance is the best way to ensure that the needs of the aging are catered for.
References
Johnson, R. W. (2016). Who is covered by private long-term care insurance? Urban Institute. TinyURL. Com/yxqklvdz. Retrieved December 28, 2018.
Longtermcare.acl.gov. 2020. What Is Long-Term Care Insurance? – Long-Term Care Information. [online] Available at: <https://longtermcare.acl.gov/costs-how-to-pay/what-is-long-term-care-insurance/index.html> [Accessed 9 August 2020].
Ranzijn, R. (2002). The potential of older adults to enhance community quality of life: Links between positive psychology and productive aging. Ageing International, 27(2), 30-55