Long-Term Care Costs | Are You Prepared?

Roughly 70% of people over the age of 65 will need Long-Term Care at some point. Attorney Abigail Plankey with Hooper Law Office discusses your Long-Term Care costs and planning ahead. What can you expect to spend on Long-Term Care costs in your local area?

Lisa Malak
Welcome back to level five. Live. Prices are on the rise for everything these days, and that includes the cost of Long-Term Care.

MIllaine Wells
Roughly 70% of persons over the age of 65 will need Long-Term Care at some point. So to discuss your Long-Term Care costs, Abigail with Hooper Law office planning ahead a bit. Good morning to you again. So what can a person expect to spend on Long-Term Care costs in our local area?

Abigail Plankey
Sure. So at home care, which can either be the least expensive option for families all the way to the most expensive, We typically see that billed hourly at the cost of like $30 an hour or maybe $35 an hour. Once someone would go into a facility. Typically that is going to be an assisted living facility where they start to access some level of care services that's already more like $4,500 a month for those costs. Memory care, which is a more expensive level of assisted living, typically is 6000 to $8000 a month. And skilled nursing, which is kind of our typical understanding of a nursing home, is more like 10000 to $12000 a month.

Lisa Malak
That's sticker shock. So how do people usually cover these costs?

Abigail Plankey
Sure. So when someone's looking to cover care costs, firstly, you should just look at your income. If your income as alone alone is enough to afford a cost like that, that's a great place to be. That's not a position that everyone is in. So then you just kind of look at, well, what have I saved? And when you look at that shortfall difference, how long would that last?

Abigail Plankey
If someone has, you know, Bill Gates-level assets, they're not worried about potentially spending those down on care. However, for individuals who don't have that type of income and assets, Long-Term Care insurance is a great option if you're able to get that. Otherwise, there are certain benefits, both with the VA and Medicaid that do help to pay for Long-Term Care if you qualify for those.

MIllaine Wells
I know in the past you've mentioned the importance of controlling how and where a person receives care. Can you elaborate a bit on that?

Abigail Plankey
Absolutely. So obviously we want to be paying something to get good quality care. And if your care needs change or something with that facility changes, having funds available to allow you to move to find maybe a different level of care just allows you more control and choice in the quality of care that you receive. So that way, if you're unhappy with something, you can move. Otherwise, a lot of people, they spend and spend down till they're on certain benefits and then they they don't have a choice but to stay even if they're not receiving the quality of care that they would like.

Lisa Malak
So when should we start planning for covering Long-Term Care costs?

Abigail Plankey
We typically recommend looking to plan for care costs 3 to 5 years before someone will need care, because that's a look back period for different types of benefits.

MIllaine Wells
Can your team also helped us protect other assets? Say we do set aside the right amount, but we want to make sure that we have a legacy for our family or things that are important to us. Can you help us make sure that some of that money is able to be left in a legacy?

Abigail Plankey
Absolutely. Legacy planning is a big part of what we do, whether it's for a specific property that's important, you know, family farm, family cabin, or just again, to be able to pass something down to the next generation, even if you did need to go into a nursing home. That is absolutely something we can help with.

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