Senior citizens in Delaware and across the United States are living longer than ever. Given that the lifespan of an average adult is increasing, the likelihood that this population is going to require extra long-term care as they age is very high. Nobody likes to think about the realities of getting older, but planning for this is extremely important. According to LongTermCare.gov, nearly two-thirds of senior citizens over the age of 65 will, at some point, need additional long-term care.
Many people believe that Medicare can be used to pay for long-term care, but this is not true. Medicare will only cover certain types of care in specific circumstances. For example, if you suffer an injury or illness and your doctor recommends that you have in-home care or pay for this for a short, predetermined period of time. Medicare will also cover hospice fees if your doctor states that you have a terminal illness and only a certain amount of time to live.
However, if you simply need assistance in your everyday life, Medicare will not cover this. This is why it is very important to have a plan in place for long-term care, as failure to plan appropriately for it can end up causing an expensive headache. Assisted living centers usually cost upwards of $4,000 a month, and this is assuming that the occupant does not need a lot of medical attention or suffer from a degenerative disease like Alzheimer’s or dementia.
Either way, it is important to make provisions for long-term care, given that Medicare will not assist the vast majority of Americans who require it.