With over thirty years of experience is social work I have found this to be one of the last topics of conversation that comes up with senior’s and their families when they are still able to discuss long-term care planning. Senior’s and adult children have long had the misconception that Medicare will pay for long term care and this is still the case in some situations.

The adult child sometimes feels an obligation and is sensitive to their parents needs and do what they can but only to the limits of logic and reason. You cannot ask the adult child to sacrifice his own physical health from stress of round the clock care and today most adult children work out of the home some are still raising their own children so moving in with an adult child does not always work out.

Here are five compelling reasons for older people and their families to get serious about how they will deal with care needs:

Odds favor needing long-term care. Already, 1 in 7 people over age 65 needs in-home care, and nearly 40 percent of those older than 85 need some form of care, according to a recent fact sheet from the Urban Institute. Another 1.6 million seniors live in nursing homes, and half of them are 85 or older. As many as 70 percent of people who are now 65 will need long-term care at some point during their remaining lives. And the incidence of Alzheimer’s rises with age, with fully half of people 85 and older likely to suffer from the disease.

Care expenses are high and rising. Whether at home or in a nursing facility, long-term care costs have been steadily rising, and can top $100,000 a year for nursing care in an expensive market.

Government will be forced to trim care benefits. All signs point to future cutbacks in government healthcare and entitlement programs. Medicaid has become the default provider of nursing home care to disabled but only if a senior meets the medical criteria for care.

Board and Care For many Board and Care is the best option for long term care. It has been shown that seniors who live in a Board and Care receive the best care and feel like they are living at their own home. They provide all the comforts of home as well as many services on site that larger facilities do.

The rate is more affordable than skilled nursing care homes, private caregivers, and large assisted living facilities and the risk for falls and readmission to hospitals is lower. And patient to caregiver ratio is higher. Care can be reimbursed by most long-term care insurance policies. Veterans long-term care benefits is also accepted as well as private pay.

For more information or to find the best solution for long term care needs contact Care Pathways and speak with a social worker directly. Serving the Orange County Care Community of seniors since 1999.