Most Families Can't Afford Nursing Home Insurance
Insurance policies that would only partially cover costs of long-term custodial nursing home care are still beyond the reach of the vast majority of older Americans, a study by the Families USA Foundation and the United Seniors Health Cooperative has found.</br></br>The survey of policies offered by nine of this country's highest-rated insurance companies found that their annual cost, ranging from $690 to $2,749 per person, could be afforded by only about one out of six Americans between the ages of 65 and 79. Annual premiums average $1,255 when purchased at age 65. They average $1,808 when bought at age 70, and $2,879 at age 75. At age 79 annual premiums average $3,860.</br></br>According to Ron Pollack, Families USA Foundation executive director, "An elderly couple, where the husband is 71 and the wife is 68, would have to pay $284 every month in premiums if they bought policies, on top of their other out-of-pocket health expenses. How can anybody dream that many retired couples can afford that, except for the very rich?"</br></br>The policies surveyed, as expensive as they were, still did not completely cover long-term care costs. The policies were deemed "Chevrolet rather than Cadillac" policies and had deductibles of up to $8,000, or coverage for about the first three months. After that, there would be a daily benefit of $80 a day with inflation protection or $110 a day without the protection.</br></br>It its announcement of the report, Families USA (formerly the Villers Foundation) noted that it is especially important at this time because a panel known as the Pepper Commission, after the late representative Claude Pepper, its founder and a champion of the elderly, is currently in the process of drafting proposals for long-term care legislation. The adequacy of private available insurance is a major factor in how the legislation will be shaped.