“Study: Being a family caregiver does not mean you will plan for your own long-term care”

“Study: Being a family caregiver does not mean you will plan for your own long-term care,” by Adam Healy, McKnight’s Home Care

“Family caregivers are more likely to think about their own long-term care needs, but they still need support and “roadmaps” to plan for those needs. That is according to a new study sponsored by Home Instead, CLTC, Milliman, and TCare, which offers support for family caregivers. … ‘I think, in general, the whole study points to the need for the importance of education about the risks and costs, and who pays [for long-term care], which has always been important,’ lead researcher Eileen Tell, CEO of ET Consulting LLC, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse. ‘But also even for people who are primed with that information, you still have to help them identify what are the viable options that make sense for them. And help them find those options, understand them and see value in them.’”

LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:

What this study, and most of its predecessors, miss is why most people fail to plan for LTC, even when they go through a period of providing care themselves. The answer has little to do with lack of education. Scholars and the popular media have been warning people about catastrophic LTC risk and cost for decades. Rather, Medicaid picks up catastrophic costs, protects inheritances, and caregivers manage, albeit at great financial and emotional strain, but without the full burden of the LTC risk and cost. That’s why generation after generation remain caught in this trap. For a full explanation, read “Long-Term Care: The Problem.” Expect “Long-Term Care: The Solution” coming soon.