Long-Term Care Awareness Month: Have You Talked to Your Mother About Her Long-Term Care?

November is not only the start of Medicare Open Enrollment Season, it’s also Long-Term Care Awareness Month. So we’re asking everyone, Have you talked to your parents about the long-term care they may eventually need? And more specifically, have you talked to your mother about her eventual long-term care?

Why do we ask? As we, our parents, and our grandparents live longer and healthier lives, the questions surrounding long-term care and how to pay for it become more and more important.  The costs of long-term care can be astronomical, far beyond what most families can pay on their own, and Medicare only pays for a small portion of it.  Considering that an extended stay in a nursing home with skilled care can easily exceed $5,000 per month, it is well worth your while to do some research and planning before you or your loved ones need long-term care. 

Today, we’re specifically asking if you have talked to your mother about long-term care because chances are much greater that long-term care will play a much larger role in her life than your father’s. Some 980,000 women over the age of 65 are currently nursing home residents compared to only 337,000 men. Nearly three-fourths (73.6%) of assisted living residents are women. Twice as many women age 65-plus are being cared for in a home setting than men (3.27 million versus 1.68 million). Unsurprisingly, it’s also estimated that women currently account for nearly two-thirds of the $6.0 billion in annual long-term care insurance benefit dollars paid.

We’ll be covering affordable long-term care options all month long, but in the meantime, have you talked to your parents about long-term care lately? Tell us about it!

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2. Healthcare Reform: Long-Term Care and Healthcare for Seniors
3. Medicaid and Long-Term Care: The Medicaid "Spend Down"
4. Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Free and Low-Cost Mammograms Available in Houston
5. Reminder: Short-Term Health Insurance is only for the Short-Term!