The term long term care has been discussed extensively on this site and in this blog. However, if you are just joining this blog then you may not know what long term care actually is. Long term care is basically any extended or chronic medical treatment. It can include everything from chronic prescriptions for cholesterol or blood pressure control to around the clock care.
Most people will require long term care at some time in their life. For those who are fortunate long term care will only be needed at the very end of their lives in the form of nursing home care. However, younger people who have been injured in a car accident or who medical issues like diabetes, may need long term care earlier in their lives and for an extended period of time.
Since long term care is defined by its extensiveness and longevity, it is important to understand that cost of long term care. In some cases long term care is going to cost the individual hundreds of dollars a day or just a few dollars a day, depending on the type of medical care needed. Irregardless, the cost of long term care is high, even for modest care needs. To help illustrate the mounting costs for long term care think about the cost of needing to change a bandage twice a day for a year. The cost of one bandage is $1.00, this is a cost of $2.00 a day or $730 a year. If this bandage needs to be in place chronically, say for a collostomy treatment, then a ten year period will have a cost of $7300 for bandages alone. Now think about how much this person will need to pay for their catheters, bandages and other collostomy supplies.