from Market Watch: LIFE Foundation Reviews Five Facts You May Not Know about Long-Term Care Insurance and Encourages Americans to Assess Their Needs With significant losses to their savings and investments, and economists warning of a prolonged recession, many Americans are feeling uncertain about their retirement security and their ability to pay for long-term care services. According to a new survey by the nonprofit LIFE Foundation, 64 percent of Americans age 45 and older say that the recent economic downturn has had a major negative impact on their ability to pay for long-term care services should they become unable to take care of themselves for an extended period of time. Considering that 70 percent of Americans who reach age 65 will need such care at some point in their lives, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, these findings show how financially vulnerable many people are without a long-term care plan. Released to coincide with Long-Term Care Awareness Month in November, the LIFE survey found that most adults recognize the reality of needing long-term care services:

from health Care for Health Care Workers:

A testimonial by Cheryl D., a home care consumer in Pennsylvania:

At the age of 14, a cardiac arrest left my son Renzo with a severe
anoxic brain injury. For the last seven years, he has been completely
dependent on the help of direct-care workers. I pay at the higher end
of the wage scale ($10.50 - $15 per hour), but I can’t afford health
benefits for his workers.

Over the years, Renzo has seen more than 40 workers come and go. His
short-term memory is challenged. It’s not until he has had somebody for
two to three months that he can remember their name. And it takes
workers at least a month to understand his patterns of speech.

For every aide that comes in, I am the trainer. I have to teach them
how to help him eat through a straw, how to manage his toileting needs,
and how to help him therapeutically regain limited skills. He has never
really learned to use the augmentative communication device because he
has not had a consistent person to work with him long enough.