Insurance

Long-term care at home is a family affair

DATE | 02/14/22
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How many people who receive long-term care in their home know that their children are helping pay for their care?

Eileen Dunn, Geriatric Care expert from our partner Associates of Clifton Park, answers, “In my experience, probably not many. Over the years I’ve had many adult children paying for their parent’s care without their knowledge.

“I currently have a client in an assisted living facility. Each of her two children are paying $1,500 per month toward the cost of care since her Social Security and pension won’t cover all the costs and her savings ran out about a year ago. Her son told me he is happy to do it, but now it’s less that he can contribute to his own retirement.”

This is just one example that stresses the need to protect against the cost of home care. According to Genworth and OneAmerica, nearly three quarters of long-term care claims are for home care, not nursing home care. Eileen adds, “The main reason I’ve ever had to place someone in a nursing home is because they have run out of savings to pay for care at home.”

It’s clear that long-term care is not an event that happens to an individual, but an experience that happens to a family. And the financial and mental health consequences can have significant repercussions for caregivers if their loved one doesn’t have appropriate long-term care insurance coverage.

The hidden costs to family caregivers