Yosef Meystel discusses growing number of elderly in the US

Aug. 14, 2010 - PRLog -- For the elderly the need for long-term care is probably the most catastrophic unexpected event that could happen. This is because the need for long-term care typically removes any level of security an elderly person may have. Older people painstakingly scrape together $100-$200 a month to buy Medicare supplement insurance to cover a risk about equal to their yearly premiums. They will go without and sacrifice food, recreation and activities in order to hold on to the last few dollars in their savings accounts.Yet very few elderly spend money or time to plan for the event of long-term care.Why the overwhelming concern to buy Medicare supplement insurance when without it Medicare would still cover most of their health needs after deductibles and co-pays?

Although the elderly are definitely concerned about the need for long-term care it is not high on the list of concerns. It is human nature not to worry about an event until it happens. Certainly everyone is concerned about having an accident or getting an illness or ending up in the hospital or needing long-term care but these things are typically beyond our control and we can't sit around and worry about them. But people do plan for the risk of loss and typically have set money aside or bought insurance or prepared written documents to cover the unexpected.

Without proper planning, the need for long-term care can result in the single greatest crisis in an elderly person's life.This lack of planning will always have an adverse effect on the older person's family. It usually results in great sacrifice or financial cost on the part of the spouse or children. Or for those with no immediate family, long-term care can be a burden to extended family members.

The ranks of the elderly are growing larger. The population of elderly over 65 will double from about 37 million people today to about 77 million people in 2035, 30 years from now. Based on current estimates of the rate of long term care this means that in 30 years about 17 million elderly Americans will be receiving long term care.Government programs are already stretched thin for long-term care services and will experience even greater stress on available funds in the future.

The older the person, the more likely the need for long-term care and the more likely a need for care which lasts not just months but years. Over 50% of the age group over 85 is receiving long-term care.

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