Average Long Term Care Insurance Costs By State

As the concern regarding long term care grows day by day, it has also become widespread not only in one state but to the rest of US. In West Virginia, the average cost of long term care varies depending on the skill of the person providing the care, and where the care is received. In fact, the costs can increase up to thousands of dollars annually.

With careful observation on how the population in the US ages, the government predicts that there is almost 80 percent chance a person will need LTC within his lifespan. In WV alone, statistics show the population of residents age 85 above is expected to rise by 43 percent in 2030. This only proves the states’ older population most likely face greater risk for chronic illnesses and utmost need for LTC.

Data also reveals that over 392,000 West Virginians rely on Medicaid – 15 percent of these are aged 65 and up. In this state, Medicaid allows eligible recipients the opportunity to choose in-home care instead of the usual nursing home care. This, in effect, resulted to West Virginia spending 81 percent of its Medicaid funds solely on institutional care.

And, 19 percent of its Medicaid LTC dollars are spent in aid for the elderly and adults with physical disabilities on home and community-based care. This, in return, ranks the state 29th among other states which spends on home care services for its residents. Check Internet #1 Long Term Care Insurance right now!

Recent studies also show WV’s nursing homes had an occupancy rate of 90 percent – making its nursing homes ranked 26th in the country in its average private pay daily rate. The states’ rates for private pay home health aides were surprisingly low while its rates for Medicare-certified home health aides were higher.

Thus, the state expressed great emphasis on the necessity of planning for long term care needs. In accordance to a US District court ruling, it must provide home and community-based services (HCBS) to individuals on waiting lists within 90 days of determination of their eligibility. This HCBS waiver allows Medicaid recipients to receive Medicaid funding for in-home care.

Moreover, West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources has come up with the West Virginia’s Long Term Care Profile Grant Project. This project enables the implementation of its State Profile Tool (SPT) for older adults, children, people with mental retardation and disabilities, people with mental illness, and people with traumatic brain injuries.

The formulation of this project provides the state with a much needed assessment of the current long term care system for each identified population. And, this serves as a means in measuring the State’s success towards regularly updating and modifying balancing indicators to address the continuous changing needs of its long term support system. Check Internet #1 Long Term Care Insurance right now!


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