What Are The Chances Of Needing LTC? Consider this:
At some point, almost everyone will need assistance with activities of daily living. In 1994, a study by the U.S. General Accounting Office indicated that of the 12.8 million needing assistance with everyday activities, 5.1 million are working age adults, 420,000 are children under the age of 18, and 7.3 million are age 65 and older. Recent studies indicate that almost half of the people turning age 65 will require nursing home confinement of some duration during their remaining years. While you might think that most people are cared for in nursing homes, a 1992 article in Financial Planning stated that for every person in a nursing home, there are about 5 others who are receiving care at home or in community settings such as an assisted living facility or adult day care center. The trend towards home and community care is growing very rapidly. Today, many people in nursing facilities are there due in large part to Medicare’s method of determining the length of a hospital stay based on Diagnostic Related Groups (DRGs). This flat-fee reimbursement system has provided hospitals with an incentive to release patients sooner and perhaps sicker than they should be. In 1988, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study which found that in general, since the DRG program began, Medicare patients with hip fractures have been discharged from hospitals sooner, are more likely to end up in nursing homes after their hospital confinement, and are twice as likely to be in a nursing home a year later! Improvements in medical technology have dramatically increased the life expectancy of our population, prolonging the lives of many and increasing the number who may require long-term care. People are living well into their 80’s, and even into their 90’s. In fact, the percentage of those age 65 who live to age 90 has tripled since 1940. With this increase in the overall age of our population, Senile Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have become leading causes of long-term care needs. Studies have found that the rate rises steeply with age, and almost half of the people over age 85 are afflicted. Other leading causes of the need for long-term care include complications resulting from chronic and crippling arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, and strokes.
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