What Do People Think About Government-Paid Long-Term Care?
About 50% of adults say that assistance for older adults should be funded by Medicare and Medicaid, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center poll.
MSN’s recent article entitled “Bipartisan support for policies to pay long-term care costs: Poll” says that 75% of adults surveyed say long-term care should be funded through Medicare Advantage or supplemental insurance programs. Close to two-thirds of respondents also said they’d support a government-administered insurance program, government funding for low-income people to receive long-term care at home and Social Security earnings credit or tax breaks for those providing long-term care to a senior.
Overall, 66% of respondents said they think it’s the federal government’s responsibility to make sure all people in the U.S. have health insurance coverage, with 73% of people aged 18-49 likely to support vs. 53% of those aged 50 and older.
Republican and Democratic responses were about the same, according to the poll.
About the same number of Republicans and Democrats favor nontaxable funds to pay for long-term care insurance—about 70%. The largest party difference was about the option for low-income people to receive government-funded, long-term care in their homes. Roughly 84% of Democrats supported this, compared to 55% of Republicans.
Overall public satisfaction with the U.S. healthcare system is low. Just 12% think the government is handling healthcare very or extremely well. When asked about healthcare specifics, 74% of adults said the U.S. handles prescription medication costs or mental healthcare “not too/not at all well,” and 70% said the same about mental healthcare.
The survey found that whites had a more negative view of the U.S. healthcare system compared to black and Hispanic adult respondents. When looking at healthcare for older adults, 56% of white adults think it is not too/not at all handled well, with 49% of Hispanic adults and 44% of black adults responding the same.
The poll consisted of 1,505 interviews between July 28 and August 1, with a 3.6% margin of error.
Under current law, MediCARE will only pay for the first 100 days of long term care. After that, to pay for long term care, you need to either (a) have long term care insurance, (b) private pay out of your own funds (which will run at least $6,500 per month up to $9,000 per month in Louisiana); or (c) qualify for MediCAID Long Term Care benefits. MediCAID is different from MediCARE. MediCAID is a means based program intended for the poor, so to qualify and avoid losing your assets to nursing home poverty, it is best to get your plan in order well before you need to go into the nursing home. I can help save at least half your assets even with a MediCAID crisis plan, but it is better to save all of your assets rather than merely half.
BOOK A CALL with me, Ted Vicknair, Louisiana Board Certified Estate Planning and Administration Specialist, Louisiana Board Certified Tax Law Specialist, and Louisiana CPA to learn more about estate planning in Louisiana, incapacity planning, and Louisiana asset protection.
If you liked this article, “What Do People Think About Government-Paid Long-Term Care?” read also these additional articles: The Difference between Revocable and Irrevocable Trust and What Is Asset Protection Planning? and Do I Need a Prenup? and Can a 529 Plan Help with Estate Planning?
Reference: MSN (Sep. 12, 2022) “Bipartisan support for policies to pay long-term care costs: Poll”
