Specialist, LTCi, DI, Annuities, Life, Designs In Life, LLC, Utah
According to most sources that gather such information, the percentage of the population of the United States that owns some type of insurance to pay for possible long-term care costs is around 7% and holding.
While the probability of needing some type of extended-care for performing daily activities before death is quite high (about 1 in 4 will need up to 2 years of long-term care, slightly lower for men and higher for women), two human factors come into play when the discussing transferring the payment of costs for such care to an insurance company: fear and denial.
People are generally afraid to even consider how awful it would be to not be able to successfully perform common daily activities and need help from someone to do so. Families assume that since mom and dad took care of them as babies, they will take care of mom and dad when they need roughly the same type of attention and care. Thus, they console their elderly parents not to worry and fret about it.
Others are simply in denial. "Just take me out back and shoot me" is a common demonstration of denial. One agent I know told me about an adult daughter that took her dad up on that. She asked, "When should I shoot you?" Her father said, "I'll tell you when". So, when he started to need help getting around and the daughter offered to help, she held up a toy gun and asked, "Now?" The father said, "No, but soon." Of course, his condition became worse and worse until finally, he needed to be admitted to full-time care in a facility. The daughter asked again, as she had over the years, "Do I shoot you now?" But, by this time, the only response her father could give was a tear. He had lost his ability to speak.
Cost has become a real deterrent to the purchase of long-term care insurance. However, those that have had to go through the experience of taking care of an aged loved one usually find some way to afford at least some amount of insurance to pay for possible long-term care costs.
This insurance is not about the insured. It's about the care-giver. Approximately 7% of Americans have figured that out.
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While the probability of needing some type of extended-care for performing daily activities before death is quite high (about 1 in 4 will need up to 2 years of long-term care, slightly lower for men and higher for women), two human factors come into play when the discussing transferring the payment of costs for such care to an insurance company: fear and denial.
People are generally afraid to even consider how awful it would be to not be able to successfully perform common daily activities and need help from someone to do so. Families assume that since mom and dad took care of them as babies, they will take care of mom and dad when they need roughly the same type of attention and care. Thus, they console their elderly parents not to worry and fret about it.
Others are simply in denial. "Just take me out back and shoot me" is a common demonstration of denial. One agent I know told me about an adult daughter that took her dad up on that. She asked, "When should I shoot you?" Her father said, "I'll tell you when". So, when he started to need help getting around and the daughter offered to help, she held up a toy gun and asked, "Now?" The father said, "No, but soon." Of course, his condition became worse and worse until finally, he needed to be admitted to full-time care in a facility. The daughter asked again, as she had over the years, "Do I shoot you now?" But, by this time, the only response her father could give was a tear. He had lost his ability to speak.
Cost has become a real deterrent to the purchase of long-term care insurance. However, those that have had to go through the experience of taking care of an aged loved one usually find some way to afford at least some amount of insurance to pay for possible long-term care costs.
This insurance is not about the insured. It's about the care-giver. Approximately 7% of Americans have figured that out.