No Long-Term Care Insurance? Read This!

There are several reasons why consumers may choose not to buy long-term care insurance. Some of those reasons may be based on very sound decisions. For instance, if you have made a thorough investigation into the cost of premiums from several of the financially sound major carriers and have found that the cost is more than you can reasonably bear, then long-term care insurance is not for you. But if you are like most people, the real reason that you are hesitant to prepare for possible future long-term care costs has very little to do with reasoning or sound decisions. Your hesitation is most likely based on feelings and emotions.

Many people live in a state of denial about their possible need for long-term care services in the future. This is often because they have always been relatively healthy; therefore, they find it hard to even picture themselves in a state where they may need assistance with activities of daily living. Or perhaps their parents died suddenly or within a short period of time, so they figure that most likely, the same will happen to them. Or perhaps the denial is so strong that very little thought has gone into the matter at all. If that is the case, this subject is probably so depressing to most of these people that they have consciously chosen to delay any decision about purchasing long-term care insurance until later. And that time will never come. Why?

None of these thought processes are based on fact. We all know that good health can change overnight. In fact, almost everyone knows someone whose health situation changed dramatically within a very short period of time. This risk obviously increases with age, so the chances of it happening to any individual—including you and me—are very real.

Due to the advances in medical science in recent years, using the health history of your parents as an exact guide for your own future health doesn't work. It is obvious that more people are living longer and often need more care in the last years of life. And long-term care is extremely expensive. If you are among those who refuse to even think about their future health care needs, ask yourself this: who will be left to make this decision for you?

Refusing to think about the subject does not make the possibility of needing long-term care any less real. It simply defers the decision to those you love the most. They will often have to make decisions about your care at the last minute, when the choices are extremely limited, unpleasant and expensive. Our families will be well served if we all decide now to take responsibility for our own future health care needs and make sound decisions based on facts instead of unreasonable emotions.

Until next time…Duane

Read more about long-term care insurance (LTCI).

Posted in Financing Long Term Care, Long-term Care Insurance (LTCI), Why and When to Purchase