Stay Golden: Long-Term Care Planning for the Unknown

We are pleased to introduce our new #StayGolden campaign, sharing real life stories from GoldenCare customers and their family experiences with long-term care planning. Our goal with this initiative is to highlight stories of those who’ve benefitted from planning ahead and others who have found themselves in difficult situations stemming from lack of coverage.


Stay Golden: Planning for the Unknown

“Early one morning my mother-in-law was sleeping and she heard the front door open. Normally this would not be an issue but my father-in-law is suffering from early onset of Alzheimer’s. For the past several months my father-in-law has been slowly slipping into his own world. A world of not knowing what day, or what time of day it is. Most day’s my mother-in-law has to remind him to take a shower and make sure he remembers to eat.

When she approached him and asked ‘Where are you going, it is 6:30 am?’ He said ‘I am taking out the garbage.’ She became very concerned, not only because he had not done this simple house hold task for months but he didn’t have anything in his hands. She talked him back into the house and told him to sit and take off his shoes. He then proceeded to say that he was substitute teaching today for Physical Education. He has been retired for over 5 years and not been driving or working in any capacity for years.

This was a huge red flag for my mother-in-law who now has been put into a primary caregiver’s role with no training or background in caring for someone with Alzheimer’s. They live in a rural area and don’t have neighbors close by to help, if an issue would arise they are 5+ miles from town. If he would have left the house and tried to drive or walk he could have become lost in the rural woods and never been found. This disease now has become a safety issue and matter of life or death in a situation where his environment is not safe. My mother-in-law can no longer be the primary caregiver, she needs to have some help.

Daily tasks like going to the grocery store are difficult, she can no longer bring him with because he gets confused. Yet she can’t leave him at home because of the flight risk and his safety. What does she do, where does she turn? She has tried to ask friends for help or other organizations who provide personal care but that can only last so long and personal care is expensive.

Luckily, they have Long-Term Care insurance.

My in-laws had the foresight years ago to plan for their future and they took out a Long-Term Care insurance policy to protect each of them in the event something would cause them to need more care than their spouse could provide. Their policy is now paying for someone to come into the home and help my mother-in-law while she is away doing other tasks or just going to town. The Long-Term Care insurance is also paying for house cleaning services and other personal care needs that my father-in-law now needs. Without this coverage my mother-in-law would have to pay out of pocket, over $40,000 a year for Home Health Care services.

No one wants to look into the future and see themselves needing extra care but with a 70% chance of needing care once we reach age 65, it is not a matter of if we will need care, it is a matter of when. Planning for future needs is what Long-Term Care insurance does, it allows an individual to pay a small monthly amount over time to then have the coverage when you need it. Planning early can only can save you money but also can guarantee you have coverage.”

Talk to an experienced Long-Term Care Specialist to learn more about how you can begin planning for your future today. 1-800-842-7799