The benefits of long-term insurance, especially for women

Women keep everything and everyone on time, on track and moving forward.

Mothers, sisters, wives, daughters and friends provide financial, emotional, physical and spiritual support. Perhaps more significantly, women are more likely to offer support when someone needs assistance and doesn’t have insurance protection or can’t afford help.

Women clearly are wired to care for others. Yet this instinct often comes at the expense of their own long-term needs.

Who is there to take care of them? On average, women live five years longer than men. The National Center for Health Statistics puts the expected life span for women in the U.S. at 81. For men it’s 76.

Most care-giving situations involve long-term care. About 70 percent of individuals age 65 and older will require long-term care in their lifetime.

Long-term care differs from other types of medical care, according to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, in that it is not intended to cure an illness, but to allow an individual to attain and maintain an optimal level of functioning.

Long-term care encompasses a wide array of medical, social, personal and specialized housing services needed by individuals who have lost some capacity for self-care because of a chronic illness or disabling condition.

Individuals typically need long-term care when they experience a chronic or acute illness or injury and aren’t able to manage certain activities of daily living. These include common tasks such as bathing, dressing and eating. Caregivers also might provide help with household chores such as cooking, paying bills, cleaning and shopping.

Too often, women do not adequately plan ahead for their own long-term care cost. Research from the Family Caregiver Alliance shows that more than 75 percent of care-giving support in the U.S. is provided by family members. Of all these unpaid caregivers, 66 percent are women. They step in for spouses, parents, in-laws, friends and neighbors. As volunteers, they provide 20 hours of support every week and on average sacrifice almost $660,000 in lifetime income to help others.

The sacrifice doesn’t end there. A national study of unpaid women caregivers found that 33 percent reduce their work hours, 29 percent pass up a promotion, 20 percent switch from full-time to part-time work and 16 percent quit their jobs to care for others.

Long-term care is expensive. To arrange for in-home care, it can cost about $190 per day or approximately $5,760 each month. The cost of a private room in a nursing home for one year averages about $83,000.

Women in this country have a great risk of needing long-term care services themselves. It is important for women to develop a solid strategy for long-term care to help preserve their family, lifestyle, health and retirement plan. Not properly planning can devastate one’s life.

There is a solution. It’s called long-term care protection and can spare women the high cost of long-term care.

There are some new and exciting developments that can help provide coverage. In addition to the usual monthly premium coverage, some plans are based on life insurance and even annuities. Also, with some of the newer plans, if you don’t use it, you don’t lose it.

Ideally everyone should have long-term coverage. In reality, that is not the case. But, because of their position as caregivers, it’s important that the women in the family have long-term care coverage.

There’s no question I have seen the benefit of having long-term care. A nursing home is only part of long-term care. Having long-term care coverage, I like to tell my clients, helps to keep you in your home longer. Isn’t that what we all would want?

Isn’t your spouse or mother worth the expense of coverage? Without a doubt, they are worth it. They are always there for us. Do the right thing for someone who has always been there for you.

This story was originally published August 28, 2017 at 10:31 AM with the headline "The benefits of long-term insurance, especially for women."