17 Feb
Whether one resides in Texas or another state, one of the dilemmas of long-term care planning is predicting whether such care will be needed in the future. More particularly, it is difficult to predict whether long-term care insurance, which is not inexpensive, should be purchased. Some organizations, however, do suggest that certain guidelines can be derived from recognized statistics.
The statistics allow for the observation that most people will not need nursing home care until they are between 80 to 85 years old. In addition, there is only a 10 percent chance of needing to stay in a nursing home for more than three years, and further, only 40 percent of seniors spend any time in a nursing home. This still leaves a lot of guesswork regarding one’s needs in the future.
The way to eliminate reasonably some aspects of the guesswork is to look at the person’s personal and family history and make some predictive conclusions. For example, did one’s parents live to an advanced age without impairment or needing any significant degree of long-term care? In addition, examine one’s own health history to see what the future could entail based on prior conditions. These are not precise indicators but they may give a limited view of what lies ahead.
Furthermore, a person should evaluate whether there are family members who will be willing and able to care for him or her during future periods of need. If there is no such option, then along with the other factors, it may be possible to increase one’s view into the crystal ball of the future. Of course, a person’s finances must be factored in to the mix; one who is able to purchase home-care services may not need to engage in long-term care with a nursing home in mind, to the extent of a person with a more modest financial capability. It is by no means an exact measure of future needs, but it can be a helpful tool for Texas residents to be able to do some long-term care planning with a few details and predictions in mind.
Source: elderlawanswers.com, “How Likely Are You to Need Long-Term Care?“, Feb. 12, 2016