Baby boomers rarely think about long-term care and most of them incorrectly assume their existing or future insurance will cover their expenses, a recent survey has found.
America’s Health Insurance Plans released the data yesterday in launching Long-term Care Awareness Week, a national effort to promote the value of long-term care insurance and highlight its importance as a key aspect of financial planning and health security.
Overally, only one of every four respondents nearing the age of 60 said they were very familiar with long-term care insurance. However, some 41 percent of all respondents said they had not discussed long-term care with anyone in the previous year.
The study found that 25 percent of boomers erroneously believe that they are covered by long-term care insurance, when they’re not. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, only about 5.2 million Americans are covered by long-term care insurance. The latest AHIP survey suggests that even if this number is accurate, it would only account for 6.6 percent of the baby boomer population.
Some 54 percent of baby boomers in the survey said they believe that Medicare will pay for their long-term care services. However, Medicare does not pay for long-term care indefinitely, and coverage by other federal programs has strict requirements.
Research for the survey was conducted by telephone; 2,000 baby boomers were contacted between September 24 and October 4. The data represents preliminary findings from an ongoing survey and focus group research examining baby boomers’ awareness of long-term care insurance, conducted for AHIP by StrategyOne.
“This should be a wake-up call to baby boomers. They aren’t factoring expenses for long-term care into their retirement planning and are missing an opportunity to protect themselves,” said Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of AHIP. The organization is using the survey to urge that action be taken to educate consumers and policymakers about the importance of long-term care coverage.
The Long-Term Care Champions Network is a national grassroots organization composed of more than 5,000 members. Throughout the week, they are recruiting family members, caregivers and clients to join the network. They are also contacting members of Congress and urging them to support legislation that would make long-term care insurance more accessible and affordable, including rules that would enable employers to offer long-term care insurance through a cafeteria plan or flexible spending arrangement.