There are just three funding options available to most of us: 1) self-fund expenses using your income, savings and/or liquidating your assets to pay for care, 2) purchasing private insurance or 3) qualifying for Medicaid which is government assistance.

Private charities and other government agencies, such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, pick up the remaining costs, but most of us cannot qualify for these funding options.

Today, private funding—income, savings, assets, insurance, and charities—pays for 28% of long-term care expenses. Public funding—Medicare, Medicaid, and other government agencies—picks up the remaining 72%. These public programs are already stretched, and this is well before the impact of aging baby boomers.