A recent article by Time Magazine covered the financial struggles millions of aging Americans face trying to figure out how to pay for the long term in the future. Unfortunately, our nation’s health care system does not seem to have an effective way for our elders to pay for long-term health care, including residency in a nursing home or hiring an in-home health aid worker.
Although we all expect to live long, happy, and healthy lives, the truth is that most of us will eventually end up needing specialized long term health care that neither private insurance nor Medicare will cover. The average cost of a year’s stay in a nursing home can be upwards of $80,000, a figure that leaves only the very wealthy and the very poor (thanks to Medicaid) able to afford.
All tolled, an estimated 47% of men and 58% of women who are retirement age or older will experience a need for long-term care in the future, according to a February 2016 study by the Department of Health and Human Services. As if the financial burden of paying for necessary medical care was not enough, the county’s healthcare system is simply not equipped to handle the coming wave of tens of millions of Baby Boomers approaching old age.