Health Insurance & Health Care Coverage for Long-term Care

Part 4, Chapter 14: Specialized Situations: Coverage for Long-Term Care Page 1

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Over the past century, the human life span has increased dramatically, offering an opportunity for people to live a rich, full life well into their seventies, eighties, and nineties. At the same time, that increased life-span may also mean that a large number of people are likely to require long-term care at some point in their lives, either at home, at an assisted living facility, in a skilled nursing facility, or in a nursing home.

Permanent care in a nursing home obviously needs to be seriously considered under certain circumstances, and may be essential in some situations. However, many senior citizens seem to feel that the ideal arrangement is to maintain maximum independence in their home community, whenever possible. Thus, when senior citizens become ill or disabled, their goal is often to make arrangements for long-term care to be provided at home.

In order to ensure that such an arrangement remains a possibility, long-term care needs to be available through an appropriate system of home health care services, local day care programs, and community-based support services. Unfortunately, our society has not yet made the adjustments that are necessary to ensure that coverage for such care is available for all senior citizens with disabilities or illnesses. At present, neither traditional health insurance policies, Medicare, or Medigap policies provide sufficient coverage in such situations.

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