Long term care insurance differs from medical and disability programs. Medical programs pay for hospitalization and medically necessary expenses, but not for many long term care services. Long term disability programs replace wages if employees cannot work. They cover expenses like food and housing but are probably not enough to pay for long term care. Long term care insurance is specifically designed to cover the services necessary to maintain an individual s level of functioning.
Employees are concerned about long term care, and rightly so.
The largest group of caregivers providing help to someone aged 50 or older are between the ages of 35 and 49. Nearly 40 percent of people receiving long term care services are working adults between the ages of 18 and 64. 5 Medical and long term disability plans do not normally cover these costs, neither does Medicare. People without long term care insurance must often rely on Medicaid, which only pays for services after their personal assets are depleted and they meet state guidelines for impoverishment. The need for long term care is an employer s problem too .