Study: Consumers Use Insurance for In-Home Care
About 34% of elderly U.S. residents who have long-term care insurance and claimed benefits used it last year to pay for in-home care, according to a study released last week by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, the AP/Baltimore Sun reports. Nearly 30% of long-term care payments in 2006 were for assisted living costs, and about 36% of payments were for nursing home care, the study found.
Total payout for long-term care in 2006 amounted to $3.3 billion.
Association Executive Director Jesse Slome said the key finding of the study was that "although long-term care insurance is closely linked in consumers' minds with nursing home care," people are more likely to use their long-term care insurance to pay for in-home care or assisted living facilities.
The association estimates that about eight million U.S. residents have long-term care insurance through an individual policy or employer-sponsored plan.
Slome said people who do not have a lot of savings, are uninsured or are Medicaid beneficiaries are more likely to choose nursing home care (AP/Baltimore Sun, 2/4).