Today is Wider Opportunities for Women's (WOW) 2nd Annual Blog Day. This year's theme: America's Budget Matters (So Does Yours). Right now, the President and Congress are deciding how to balance America's budget. When making these decisions, out nation's leaders need to hear about what matters when it comes to the budgets of all Americans - young and old.
Visit the America's Budget Matters (So Does Yours) event page to find out how you can get involved in this day-long event and to read blogs from participating national and state organizations.
Below is a blog authored by Kelly Stellrecht, Field & Program Associate at WOW.
Each year older adults and families across the country struggle with the burdensome cost of long-term care. My family is an intergenerational household -- my parents, sister and niece live together under one roof in suburban Wisconsin.
Budgets and spending habits change and develop from the time you start a career, which my sister is preparing to do after finishing college next year, to the time you retire, which my parents will do in the next few years.
My parents are both in their mid-50’s and have carefully planned and saved over the course of their careers in preparation for retirement. Despite their excellent saving habits, I am concerned with how they will be able to stay in their home and afford the care they may need. Without adequate savings, long-term care insurance or government assistance, the cost of community based health care will be a very heavy financial burden.
In fact, the cost of care would be such a hardship that it would completely wipe out my parent’s lifetime savings. According to the Wisconsin Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index, the need for home and community based long-term care can double, if not triple, an elder’s annual expenses. In Wisconsin, even a low level of long-term care services, just six hours a week, adds over $7,000 to yearly living expenses. A high level of care can cost upwards of $42,000 per year.
Under the new health reform law, Americans can opt-in to a long-term care insurance program, called the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program, that allows them to save during their working years for future health care needs. While CLASS is just a first step, it will help many families, like mine, from exhausting their savings so quickly, improve their of quality care and ensure older adults remain independent and healthy.