According to the National Council on Aging, Americans are living longer.

However, these longer lives can still experience the common aging process in diminished capacities with dementia or any one of the other memory loss syndromes or diseases. This is why long term care, and long term care insurance, is so valuable.

Our parents and siblings are living longer, but are less likely to be able to remain in the home. As they age, they are unable to perform activities of daily living, presenting the need for attentive care and engagement. This can obviously create extremely high out-of-pocket expenses. 

Additionally, special needs siblings and children need long term care services. This deepens the need for proper risk management to carefully purchase transfer mechanisms for some of these high-cost living situations. 

Challenges in Long Term Care 

One of the challenges is the myriad of cognitive issues that so many of our community members are experiencing. Whether that be dementia related to aging, degenerative disorders like Parkinson’s, or a developmental disorder like Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 3, cognitive dysfunctions necessitate long term care services for these individuals to complete daily tasks.

Some families are safe to self-insure. Having no 3rd party insurance and assuming all costs, the family pays for long term care services out of pocket until assets are completely diminished. 

This is often because there may be plenty of healthy and available family members of the impaired person to take turns managing direct and indirect care, like bathing dressing and eating.

Some families rotate their most mature members among their homes so that others get respite from these loving but exhausting acts of service. Or, some children or family members of the individuals in need of long term care have time, energy, experience, room, and resources to provide. 

Some families, though, have none of these and are forced to pursue other means of care for their loved one. In these cases, the costs of long term care can become a hefty burden on the family without financial assistance.

The challenge of affording long term care services becomes compounded as the individuals in need of care often become physically healthier with proper assistance. This is because they are more active, more engaged, and eating healthier with help from a home health aide or similar service.

With better physical health also comes the need for more input and greater supervision, especially for the cognitively impaired. This also means more money for types of long term care like adult day care or assisted living facilities.

Long Term Care Insurance in Oregon  

Choosing to buy long term care insurance is making a resurgence, as most families don’t want to rely on the family assets to cover the costs. Instead, they are investing in individual or couples’ policies to get help paying for the needed care, thereby preserving the hard-earned legacies created.

The long term care market in Oregon is highly regulated by the state for two factors: Sales practices (by agents and brokers) and claims paying practices (by the actual insurance companies themselves). 

A terrific resource that our Oregon State Department of Financial Regulation provides to us is a relatively simple complaint submission and investigation process, which we all pay for out of tax funds. 

Consider Long Term Care Insurance Sooner Rather than Later 

It is much harder to qualify for long term care insurance after someone has been hospitalized or is already in need of support services. The process of obtaining the right coverage for an individual’s specific long term care needs can be complex because there are such a wide range of options, bundles, and costs of long term care.

Qualified insurance agents can help explain these options and the types of long term care, including elderly care, adult day care, and bundling your policies with other types of insurance, like life insurance. You should also consider getting multiple policy options and comparing them side by side to find the best rates and coverage.

If someone you care about is needing support, or aging with grace, now might be the time to start shopping your options before it’s too late. If you’re in Oregon, you might consider starting your research by visiting the Oregon Department of Human Services’s Guide to Long Term Care Options.

When you’re ready, you can contact us to review your policy, get new presentation options, or discuss available discounts by calling us at 541-482-0831, or request a quote online.