RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Not having
enough money to pay for care is the greatest fear adults have about
aging and their long term care needs, according to a recent
consumer survey by Genworth, but only one in five have taken any
action toward financing their long term care expenses.
Furthermore, only half of the respondents said they plan to take
personal financial responsibility for their own care as they age.
The others said they would leave that worry to the government,
their children or family, community or faith-based organizations,
or had no idea who would provide their care.
"As these findings suggest, many people will not be prepared
financially to handle the impact of growing older, which means the
burden of caring for them will fall on their families, friends and
communities," said David O'Leary,
president and CEO of Genworth's U.S. Life Insurance division.
"That's why it's so important for people to talk to their families
about who will care for them, educate themselves about the cost of
care and develop a plan for how they will pay for it."
Genworth conducted the survey to gauge consumers' knowledge
about long term care costs and financing options in conjunction
with Long Term Care Awareness Month in November. The consumer
sentiment study, along with Genworth's annual Cost of Care Survey,
is part of Genworth's commitment to help people who need care age
on their own terms and live their lives the way they want for as
long as they live.
Misperceptions about who pays for long term care
costs:
Consumers' inaction may be partially explained by additional
survey findings that showed glaring misunderstanding about what
care costs and what costs are covered by various funding sources,
including government programs, O'Leary said.
- Two out of three adults expect government programs to partially
or fully cover the costs of their long-term care services, despite
the fact that Medicare pays for only limited care and Medicaid has
strict financial eligibility requirements. In addition, both
programs have come under increasing funding pressure.
- Confusion exists about government programs and what they cover:
45 percent of respondents either confused Medicare for Medicaid or
admitted they didn't know the difference between the two
programs.
- About 40 percent underestimated the hourly cost of professional
care in the home, which is where most people prefer to receive
care, and 52 percent of respondents did not know that this service
can be covered by a long term care insurance policy.
- 62 percent of respondents incorrectly defined what long
term care insurance covers.
- 61 percent of respondents did not know that long term care
insurance usually provides care coordination services such as
personalized care plans and help finding quality care providers as
part of the policy benefits.
Generational Differences
- Baby Boomers, who are closest to the age at which people
typically begin needing long term care services, are the least
likely to think they will be among the 70 percent of people who
turn 65 today that will require long term care services at some
point1 (52 percent compared to 64 percent for
Millennials and 65 percent for Generation X).
- Gen X is the most fearful about lacking the money to pay for
long term care, but is the mostly likely not to have taken any
action towards paying for future long term care expenses.
- Millennials are most likely to have taken action towards paying
for future long term care expenses, which may be tied to another
finding revealed in the study -- that they are the most likely not
to expect the government to cover any part of their long term care
services.
"People are never too young to begin preparing for how to pay
for long term care costs, which are often overlooked as a major
retirement expense and can quickly wipe out a person's savings,"
O'Leary said. "Understanding the costs is a good first step,
followed by a conversation with a financial professional about
potential funding options that will protect assets against long
term care costs – and provide the peace of mind that comes with
knowing you'll be able to receive the care you need how and where
you wish to receive it."
So, Where Do I Start? Resources for Determining Who Will Pay
for My Care
Understanding who
pays (or doesn't pay) for care and how to bridge any gaps in
financing can help ensure that consumers will have the financial
resources to receive the quality care they deserve. Here are
resources to get started:
- Genworth provides tools for people to develop a plan at: Let's
Talk: "Conversations that Matter."
- To compare long term care costs in different care settings
across various cities and states, download Genworth's Cost of Care
App on the App Store for iOS devices.
- To find out what long term care services are covered by
Medicare and Medicaid: longtermcare.gov.
- To explore long term care financing options, please visit
genworth.com/longtermcare.
- Beyond traditional insurance products, an underwritten single
premium immediate need annuity can be purchased by older, less
healthy Americans or their families to provide a guaranteed
lifetime source of income that can be used for any purpose
including, to pay for care or other expenses. Learn more
here: www.genworth.com/products/immediate-need-annuity.html.
About Genworth's Long Term Care Consumer Sentiment
Study
Genworth's companion Long Term Care Consumer Sentiment
Study was conducted in collaboration with J&K Solutions, LLC.
The data from this omnibus study was collected from online surveys
conducted in July and September 2017.
In each case, a demographically representative sample of 1,200
adults ages 18 and older across the
United States were surveyed, providing a 95 percent
confidence level plus or minus 3%. The sample followed the
framework of the U.S. Census data for age, gender, and
region.
About Genworth Financial
Genworth Financial, Inc.
(NYSE: GNW) is a Fortune 500 insurance holding company committed to
helping families achieve the dream of homeownership and address the
financial challenges of aging through its leadership positions in
mortgage insurance and long term care insurance. Headquartered in
Richmond, Virginia, Genworth
traces its roots back to 1871 and became a public company in
2004. For more information, visit genworth.com.
From time to time, Genworth releases important information via
postings on its corporate website. Accordingly, investors and other
interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic
email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding
new postings. Enrollment information is found under the "Investors"
section of genworth.com. From time to time, Genworth's
publicly traded subsidiaries, Genworth MI Canada Inc. and Genworth
Mortgage Insurance Australia Limited, separately release financial
and other information about their operations. This information can
be found
at http://genworth.ca and http://www.genworth.com.au.
1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
https://longtermcare.acl.gov/, October 10,
2017
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SOURCE Genworth Financial, Inc.