Physinews Insurance Reports: “About 87 per cent of respondents in
Singapore rated Singapore’s healthcare
system as fairly or very good”. 2010
Accenture Citizen Experience Study,
conducted by the Accenture Institute for
Health and Public Service Value.
However, with an ageing population,
rising national wealth, technological
advancement, means testing, reduction
and/or removal of subsidies, healthcare
cost in Singapore has grown.
Unfortunately, many Singaporeans are
still unprepared for the rise in the cost of
healthcare.
Neglecting long term care
Do you know that health insurance is only
part of total healthcare insurance planning?©www.Physinews.com
Many neglect the importance of long term
care. Health insurance helps to reduce your
family’s financial burden by paying fully or
partially the hospital bills in the event of
illness or injury. But what about the bills you
have to pay when you need to be looked
after for an extended period of time due to
severe disability? That is where Long Term
Care (LTC) insurance comes in.
Long term care insurance (LTC)
Long term care goes beyond medical care
and nursing care to include all the assistance
you would need if you ever suffered from a
chronic illness or disability, that left you
unable to care for yourself for an extended
period of time. This expense can be very
high and it could be a financial “black hole”.
Long Term Care Insurance
Is a severe disability insurance scheme
that helps to transfer the risk of long term
medical care and services to the insurer.
Long term care services
Are needed when a person cannot
perform certain "activities of daily
living" (ADLs).
The scope of activities of daily living
includes:
• Bathing
• Dressing
• Transferring (getting from a bed to a
chair)
• Going to the toilet
Feeding
• Mobility
With the need for long-term care the older
person:
Loses independence
Has experienced a loss of good health
Uses up remaining assets and income
No other late-life event can be as devastating
to the lifestyle the elderly are so concerned
about maintaining. No wonder many elderly
care recipients withdraw, become angry and
suffer from severe depression.
Ironically, older people painstakingly scrape
together $100-$200 a month to buy
Medicare supplement insurance to cover a
risk about equal to their yearly premiums.
They will go without and sacrifice food,
recreation and activities in order to hold on
to the last few dollars in their savings
accounts.
Yet very few elderly spend money or time to
plan for the event of long-term care. It
seems a paradox that someone would be
more concerned about buying insurance for
a home fire when the risk of long-term care
is 600 times more likely. Or what about the
cost of insuring for an auto accident when
the risk of long-term care is 120 times more
likely and is potentially 20 times more
expense? Or why the overwhelming concern
to buy Medicare supplement insurance when
without it Medicare would still cover most of
their health needs after deductibles and co-
pays? We're not recommending going
without insurance coverage we're simply
using it as an example of how people refuse
to deal with the issue of long-term care.
No one knows why people beyond age 65 are
not more concerned about preparing for
long-term care. Perhaps they have seen it in
their family or among friends and seen the
effect that it has. Because of the unsavory
aspect of receiving long-term care, perhaps
the elderly prefer to ignore it rather than
embrace the need for it. Perhaps they
mistakenly think the government will take
care of them. Or they are assured that family
and friends will provide the care when
needed, but don't know how difficult it
really is for loved ones to provide that care
when the time actually comes. Whatever the
case, without proper planning, the need for
long-term care can result in the single
greatest crisis in an elderly person's life.
Singapore rated Singapore’s healthcare
system as fairly or very good”. 2010
Accenture Citizen Experience Study,
conducted by the Accenture Institute for
Health and Public Service Value.
However, with an ageing population,
rising national wealth, technological
advancement, means testing, reduction
and/or removal of subsidies, healthcare
cost in Singapore has grown.
Unfortunately, many Singaporeans are
still unprepared for the rise in the cost of
healthcare.
Neglecting long term care
Do you know that health insurance is only
part of total healthcare insurance planning?©www.Physinews.com
Many neglect the importance of long term
care. Health insurance helps to reduce your
family’s financial burden by paying fully or
partially the hospital bills in the event of
illness or injury. But what about the bills you
have to pay when you need to be looked
after for an extended period of time due to
severe disability? That is where Long Term
Care (LTC) insurance comes in.
Long term care insurance (LTC)
Long term care goes beyond medical care
and nursing care to include all the assistance
you would need if you ever suffered from a
chronic illness or disability, that left you
unable to care for yourself for an extended
period of time. This expense can be very
high and it could be a financial “black hole”.
Long Term Care Insurance
Is a severe disability insurance scheme
that helps to transfer the risk of long term
medical care and services to the insurer.
Long term care services
Are needed when a person cannot
perform certain "activities of daily
living" (ADLs).
The scope of activities of daily living
includes:
• Bathing
• Dressing
• Transferring (getting from a bed to a
chair)
• Going to the toilet
Feeding
• Mobility
With the need for long-term care the older
person:
Loses independence
Has experienced a loss of good health
Uses up remaining assets and income
No other late-life event can be as devastating
to the lifestyle the elderly are so concerned
about maintaining. No wonder many elderly
care recipients withdraw, become angry and
suffer from severe depression.
Ironically, older people painstakingly scrape
together $100-$200 a month to buy
Medicare supplement insurance to cover a
risk about equal to their yearly premiums.
They will go without and sacrifice food,
recreation and activities in order to hold on
to the last few dollars in their savings
accounts.
Yet very few elderly spend money or time to
plan for the event of long-term care. It
seems a paradox that someone would be
more concerned about buying insurance for
a home fire when the risk of long-term care
is 600 times more likely. Or what about the
cost of insuring for an auto accident when
the risk of long-term care is 120 times more
likely and is potentially 20 times more
expense? Or why the overwhelming concern
to buy Medicare supplement insurance when
without it Medicare would still cover most of
their health needs after deductibles and co-
pays? We're not recommending going
without insurance coverage we're simply
using it as an example of how people refuse
to deal with the issue of long-term care.
No one knows why people beyond age 65 are
not more concerned about preparing for
long-term care. Perhaps they have seen it in
their family or among friends and seen the
effect that it has. Because of the unsavory
aspect of receiving long-term care, perhaps
the elderly prefer to ignore it rather than
embrace the need for it. Perhaps they
mistakenly think the government will take
care of them. Or they are assured that family
and friends will provide the care when
needed, but don't know how difficult it
really is for loved ones to provide that care
when the time actually comes. Whatever the
case, without proper planning, the need for
long-term care can result in the single
greatest crisis in an elderly person's life.
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