Southside Gardens

Long Term Care Insurance Brightens the Golden Years

Editor’s Note: We wanted to know about long term care insurance so we went to someone who deals every day with people who have it and people who don’t. Here’s what Mark Calvit, administrator of Southside Gardens, had to say about long term  insurance.

Q. What about long term care insurance?   Is it a good investment?
A. Of course, at Southside Gardens we don’t sell insurance. We never have, and I doubt we ever will.  But what I tell people who ask about long term care coverage is that it is a good idea for most people. Up until the age of 50 we need disability insurance. After that, unless you have a couple of million in cash stashed away, long-term care insurance is probably a very good idea.

Q. You see people who have it and people who don’t every day, don’t you?
A. Sure, and it is really sad that we have folks here regularly who say: ‘Dad’s income is a little over $1,000 per month.  What can you do for us?’  Unfortunately, my answer has to be: ‘Nothing.’

Q . Wow, that’s tough!
A. The way I look at long-term care insurance is that you have to ask yourself what your risk is.   That’s the way it is with any insurance decision.   You have to decide if this or that is a risk that is worth insuring.  But for a couple turning 65 the likelihood that one or the other of them will need long term care during their lifetime is a 75 percent probability.  So which risk does it make more sense for you to insure against?

Q. What’s the difference for somebody who has long term care insurance or $2 million in the bank and somebody who has neither?
A. Well, there are many fine nursing homes, but here we have a lot of single  people living in either an independent-living or an assisted-living environment. And we have many married couples who share an apartment. We do everything for our residents including taking care of the lawn, the pool and the flowerbeds.   It is as much like living in your own home with your own furniture as we can possibly make it. On the other hand living in a nursing home is more like being in the hospital, and you will be in a semi-private room.  Your assets will be completely depleted over time and after you become indigent you will go on Medicaid because you will be totally without funds.

Q.   So how expensive is permanent-care insurance?
A.   I have no idea. I just see the results and I see the checks coming in from the insurance companies that get applied to our residents’ private accounts.

Q. You say there are more couples than single people at Southside Gardens.   Why do you think that is? 
A. It is because of something we call ‘the burden of home ownership.’ Here we do it all for our residents.  Sometimes the golden years are not all that golden, but we try very hard to make life enjoyable for our residents. 

Q. So, based on your experience, what is your recommendation about long-term care insurance?
A.  Well, you can self-insure if you have $2 million in the bank. You’re probably OK.  But my recommendation is don’t take a chance, insure. And we are not in the business, but I see it all the time with the family members asking each other:  “What are we going to do?”  And it is too late.  There is nothing that can be done.  I see it all the time.