Here are the facts about Long Term Care:

• Because chances are 1 out of 2 you will require some form of skilled or custodial care.
• Because Medicare and Medicaid cover very little, if any, skilled care and some home care but only for a short period of time.
• Because Medicaid does not let you remain in your home or allow you to have the independence of choosing your nursing facility.
• Because by the year 2007, we will likely spend more time with Parent Care Issues than we did with Child Care Issues.
• Because you’re life savings, your estate and your independence can be wiped out by the cost of chronic health care.
• Because you owe it to yourself, your family, your employees, and your community.
• Medicare pays for less than 2% of the formal long term care cost and nothing for informal care.
• About 60% of seniors age 65 or older will need some from of long term care.
• At age 65 the elderly have a 72% chance they will use home health care vs. 50% who will need a nursing home.
• 40% of LTC recipients are under the age of 65.
• About one out of every four American households provide care for a family member.
• Family members often tap into retirement savings, invade college funds, forego careers, change their lifestyles and invade marriages caring for loved ones.
• The average stay in a Nursing home is 2.8 years.
• The average time a person receives custodial care exceeds 5.0 years.
• 20% of people who go to a home spend more than 5 years.
• The average cost for a nursing home in Michigan is about $71,000/yr. ($194.00/day)
• 66% of home care consumers are women.
• 70% of unpaid caregivers are women.
• 75% of nursing home residents are women.
• Health issues account for more bankruptcies among senior’s than any other problem.