One of the issues you’re not hearing much about in the debate over health care reform, is transparency. That is, as a patient walking into the hospital, whether in the ER, a routine check up or some other procedure, we rarely, if ever, know how much something is going to cost before it happens. I mean, if I knew just stepping into the ER was going to cost over $900, would I reconsider? What about a blood tests? Would I still have it if I knew a prick to the thumb was going to cost $600 (not including lab fees!) What if there was a price sheet, similar to a menu in a fast food restaurant, that listed the cost of a procedure? This isn’t a push for a single-payer system, as costs would vary from hospital to hospital, but instead just a new norm of price transparency. Basically, I want to know what something is going to cost before I do it.
What does this have to do with long term care and long term care insurance? Obviously this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. You can’t necessarily predict what is going to happen to your health in the future, nor how much such long term health care will cost. What you can do though is prepare yourself for the cost of long term care by researching typical costs in your area should you need long term care assistance. For example, find out how much assisted-living facilities are or home health care is. Understanding these costs now will help you better prepare yourself for the future, if a need for long term care arises.
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