THE CAREGIVING CONVERSATION
New options for long term care planning
In order to live our best life, we need to plan for all aspects of it. Unfortunately, one of the things we often ignore is the potential need for long term or extended care services — not just as we age, but throughout our lifetime. However, there is good news. There are now more options to help employees with the costs of these services that can help lessen the reliance on their loved ones who often step in to provide this care.
74%
believe extended care should be a part of retirement planning,
but only
45%
have thought about planning for their own long term care needs*
Extended care survey
Transamerica recently conducted a long term care survey asking policyholders about their experience with long term care, their biggest concerns, and how and where they prefer to receive care, if needed. Responses were grouped into five key findings:
- More information / education support is needed
- Most understand the need to plan but haven’t
- Cost of care is the most important concern
- Caregiving experience impacts plans
- Most participants prefer receiving care in their own homes
Here’s what we learned:
Caregiving whitepaper
The rate at which Baby Boomers are retiring and needing long term care assistance is not the only dilemma we face today. Certain medical events, disabilities, or chronic conditions can trigger the need for extended care well before we reach retirement.
We took our learnings from our extended care study and other research to provide comprehensive insights into the current caregiving dilemma. See what surprising details we uncovered in Transamerica’s most recent whitepaper — “The Far Reaching Impact of Caregiving on Employers and Employees.”
Notable statistics
25% chance an insured worker born in 2000 will become disabled before retirement
1 in 5 feel confident they will have enough money to pay for extended care
22% have insurance to cover long term care expenses
45% rely on insurance to pay for long term care
Caregiving legislation
Regulatory and legislative changes throughout the country could impact how policies can be offered and what that means for the insurance industry as a whole. A small percentage of Americans own individual LTC insurance policies, and many carriers have exited this market over the past 10 years or so. It may even be hard to find a long term care policy or afford one. Several states are looking for alternatives to help with long term caregiving costs by conducting studies and having discussions on this important issue.
Read more about this in our LTC State Regulatory Flyer.
We will continue to provide updates as they unfold.
