DALLAS, Texas. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — The numbers are impressive … if not staggering. Today, more than 46, 000,000 Americans are older than 65. And that total will swell to almost 100,000,000 by 2060. With these big numbers come big questions: where are seniors who can’t take care of themselves going to live? And who is going to pay for it?
Royce and June Campbell just celebrated 69 years of marriage. But they need help to keep living together.
Kelley Newcomer, MD, specializing in internal medicine said “Most of our residents are coming here because they are at the end of their life, and maybe their kids don’t realize it yet.”
Right now, one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. And in about 30 years, 16 million Americans will have the disease, which is triple the current amount.
The CEO of Manchester Place Care Homes, Dean Krasovitsky, said, “In ten years, the tsunami, the silver tsunami I’ve heard it called, is gonna start, and we’re not equipped as a society to handle it.”
A government study shows that 70 percent of Americans 65 and over will require some type of long-term care during their lifetime. Gut-wrenching choices often come down to an adult child’s power of attorney and personal finances.
Krasovitsky said, “At a certain point you have to realize that now you’ve become the parent in a way.”
Manchester Place offers approximately four-to-one ratio of patients to employees, skilled nursing, regular doctor visits, private rooms and home cooked meals. But these services come at a $6500 a month price tag for residents, which is paid for with personal savings or long-term care insurance.
According to the family caregiver alliance, over 8,000,000 Americans receive long-term care annually. And almost one fifth of the older adult population will require over 25,000 dollars in lifetime out-of-pocket costs before they die.
Contributors to this news report include: Don Wall, Field Producer; Brogan Morris, Assistant Producer; Mark Montgomery, Videographer; and Tony Dastoli, Editor.
SILVER TSUNAMI IS ON THE WAY!
REPORT #2349
BACKGROUND: Long-term care encompasses a wide array of medical, social, personal, supportive and specialized housing services. Individuals need long-term care when a chronic condition, trauma or illness limits their ability to carry out basic self-care tasks, such as bathing, dressing, eating, household chores, meal preparation or managing money. Long-term care differs from other types of healthcare because the goal is not to cure an illness but to allow an individual to maintain at an optimal level of functioning. Currently, an estimated 12 million Americans need long-term care. Individuals 85 years and older are also one of the fastest growing segments of the population. By 2050, the number of individuals using paid long-term care services in any setting will likely double. In 2012, 14.8 percent of the senior population was reported to be below the poverty level, yet nearly a fifth of older people will incur more than $25,000 in lifetime out-of-pocket long-term costs before they die. Medicaid spending on home and community-based services with long-term care has increased at a rate of 25 percent annually since 1990. Research suggests that if savings rates are not increased and government programs to assist the elderly are not strengthened, many retirees will face serious problems attaining needed health and long-term care services in the future. By 2030, it is estimated that many retirees will not have enough income to cover basic expenditures or any expenses related to a nursing home stay or services from a home health provider. In many cases, responsibility has shifted onto unpaid providers of care, increasing burdens on family caregivers.
(Source: https://www.caregiver.org/selected-long-term-care-statistics)
WAYS TO REDUCE THE COST OF CARE: Assisted living industry professionals share a few tips for ways families can save money on assisted living and other types of residential care when making care decisions:
- Apartment Choice: Almost all assisted living communities offer residents a choice of room size
- Community Size: One might think that larger communities will be cheaper, but due to regulations it is actually the opposite. Smaller communities are often less expensive while offering the same quality of care.
- Leave the City or State: There are large cost variations across the 50 states, and good quality care often costs more in urban areas due to higher cost of living.
- Think of Timing: Residencies are often willing to give price breaks at the end of their financial quarter, making it easier to negotiate and waive community fees.
- Level of Care: Choosing the correct level of care on an as-needed basis can save families hundreds of dollars a month.
To learn more about paying for assisted care, go to: https://www.payingforseniorcare.com.
(Source: https://www.payingforseniorcare.com/longtermcare/lower-the-cost-of-assisted-living.html)
* For More Information, Contact:
Tim Livingston
567-245-5128
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