My family has been struggling with end-of-life care issues, and one issue that came particularly to my attention was short-to-long-term Hospice care. People live out their final days best when they can be in their own homes. But in many families such as mine, well-aged parents have older children. None of us can be turning patients in bed. Even younger folks might have problems. Even nurses generally work in teams to move patients.
Yet at-home Hospice help is for a few hours per WEEK in New York, where it is paid for by Medicare — not even a couple hours every day, usually a couple times a week, with phone support (as if that will help me lift 100+ pounds). I presume many states are worse. Long-term care at home with private nurses, or at a nursing home, are not paid for by Medicare nor Medicare Advantage here. Rehabilitation is paid for, if the patient is expected to recover. But not if the patient is at end of life. Then the family is supposed to cover it, or savings, or long-term care insurance. If a patient needs Medicaid, pretty much all assets must be disposed of first, leaving the remaining spouse destitute.
So: Long-term care insurance: Most people don’t have it because it is very expensive, on the order of hundreds of dollars per month. And then when you need it, it pays $100 per day for a basic plan.
So why consider long-term care insurance, especially if you are a woman?
- Women are more likely to need long-term caregiving.
- Women are more likely to interrupt careers to care for others, compromising their long-term financial solvency.
- Women are more likely to be the surviving spouse, outliving their husbands after resources are exhausted on him.
And of course, vote for progressive Democrats and demand that they finally solve these affordability issues!!
