If you cannot afford to fully fund the cost of Long Term care, and do NOT have a LTC policy, then you will be spending down your assets until you either expire or qualify for state aid. By the time you have qualified for state aid, at least in New Hampshire, your remaining assets will consist of your home, one car and no more than $76,000. Furthermore, the state will garnish any pension and social security payments to you.
With what's left, your surviving spouse is going to have a financially rocky future to put it mildly.
Everyone says they don't want to become a burden to their children. If you are not exceedingly wealthy and have no LTC insurance, between the two of you, there is a 75% chance that at least one of you will become just that.
A new term, "Elder Care" refers to people who have become responsible in one form or another for the care of anywhere from one to four parents. With a little bit of an age spread, and diseases such as dementia or Alzheimer's, there is the potential that Elder Care could extend for a decade or more.
Even if there is little cost put out for the care, the responsible party will most likely lose time at work, or worse, have to quit all together. So, there will be a substantial cost, no matter how you look at it.
If the caring party is still an active parent themselves, the family stress could be disastrous.
Gain control over where you land
If your long term care is being covered by State Medicaid, then you will be placed in a care facility that has beds reserved for such cases. The sad fact of the matter is that New Hampshire pays institutions far below the average cost. In order to stay solvent, most places have established a maximum number of beds reserved for State Medicaid patients. If the place you would prefer is booked up, you may very well end up in a place you do NOT prefer........
On the other hand, fully funded patients have far more control over choice and placement.
Protect Estate
Last but not least, LTC insurance can protect the assets in your estate. The average nursing home stay is just under four years, however, a condition such as Alzheimer's can linger for a decade or more. That puts the potential cost for long term care, at today's rates, somewhere between $200,000 to $700,000. If you and your wife both require long term are, then just double those numbers.
As stated elsewhere, those costs are expected to triple over the next 20 years. So, if you are 55 today, there is a good chance that the total cost for your long term care, by the time you need it, could exceed $2,000,000.
So, if you have a personal goal of willing assets to your children, alma mater, or other charities, your estate plan without Long Term Care protection is at risk.