According to a study revised in 2016 by the Urban Institute and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. About half of 65-year old’s will eventually develop a disability and require some type of long-term care service or home care service. Most will need services for less than two years, but about 14% will require care for more than five years.

Regular health insurance and Medicare doesn’t cover long-term care. Medicare may cover only short nursing home stays or limited amounts of home health care when you require skilled nursing or rehab. It does not pay for custodial care, which includes supervision and help with day-to-day tasks.

 

If you don’t have insurance to cover long-term care, you’ll have to pay for it yourself. You can get help through Medicaid, the federal and state health insurance program for those with low incomes, but only after you’ve exhausted most of your savings.

 

People buy long-term care insurance for a couple reasons.

 

1.    Protect savings. Long term care costs can deplete a retirement nest egg quickly. The median cost of care in a semi-private nursing home room is $89,297 a year, according to Genworth’s 2018 Cost of Care Survey.