What is Long-Term Care?

There are a lot of misconceptions about long-term care. Long-term care includes both assistance with daily living (for example: bathing, dressing, eating, housework, shopping) and skilled medical care. According to the Administration for Community Living, 70% of people turning age 65 will need to use some form of long-term care during their lives. Poor diet and exercise habits can increase your chances of needing long-term care. 

Medicare only pays for short term (less than 100 days) medically necessary care and rehabilitation. Medicare does not pay for personal care- such as assistance with daily living or for supervision (often called custodial care). Twenty percent of today's 65 year-olds will need long-term care for longer than 5 years. 

Medicaid may pay for long term care, but it is only available for people with low income. Medicaid eligibility rules vary from state to state. For more information about Medicaid in Florida, click here. For more information on how to plan for long-term care, please visit the longtermcare.gov website.