“Why the Cost of Long-Term Care Is Out of Reach for the Middle Class”

“Why the Cost of Long-Term Care Is Out of Reach for the Middle Class,” by Liz Seegert, Next Avenue

Quote:

“Most people in the $25,000 to $95,000 income bracket are considered middle-income; they usually cannot afford to pay privately for long-term care. Instead, they must rely on a network of family, friends, community-based services and luck. A majority don’t have long-term care insurance, which could offset some of the cost of non-medical care.”

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

This article perfectly encapsulates the “fallacy of impoverishment” that stands in the way of understanding and fixing the long-term care problem. Middle income people up to $95,000 and beyond qualify for Medicaid LTC benefits, because Medicaid subtracts their private health and LTC expenses from their income to conclude they’re “low income” and eligible. As long as they hold their assets in exempt form, such as home equity, personal belongings, a car, a business, etc., they’re eligible. In the end, Medicaid pays for most expensive long-term care. That’s the real reason people don’t think about long-term care risk and cost until it is too late to afford or obtain private LTC insurance. See Medicaid and Long-Term Care for the full analysis. We thank Center friend and member Stephen D. Forman of corporate-member LTC Associates for tipping us to this article, which somehow slipped by us.