November is National Family Caregivers Month, Alzheimer’s Awareness Month and National Long-Term Care Awareness Month?
Why November? Is there a common thread? Yes! These awareness months are related to aging, declining health and caregiving.
And it is the time of family gatherings to celebrate Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. It is also the opportunity to observe, discuss and plan for the potential of needing long-term care and all that it entails.
We will help you get ahead of the curve and cover the basics you need to know for those important family conversations.
Let’s start with a few facts.
- As of May 2026, one in four adults or 63 million provide long-term care to a family member.
- In 2025, unpaid caregivers provided more than 19 billion hours of care valued at more than $446 billion caring for a family member with dementia.
- Medicaid continues to be the primary funder of long-term care expenses in America covering 45% of costs.
What is long-term care?
Long-term care is designed as custodial care. It is for those who can no longer live independently as the result of their inability to perform activities of daily living or their need for supervision due to cognitive impairment.
The need can arise as the result of a chronic medical condition such as ALS, MS, Parkinson’s or dementia. Or it can be the result of an accident or surgery, and care is required for several months during recovery.
But it is very different in design than healthcare which was designed as curative or rehabilitative care.
What is the risk?
The government projections indicate that by the time we reach age 65, 70% of us will experience a long-term care event. As insurance goes, this is a very high percentage. Only surpassed by life insurance!
Learn more about how to mitigate the risk of paying for long-term care by exploring this website or contact us today!
