California - State Median:
Long Term Care Annual Care Costs in 2010

Definitions:

Nursing Home Care is for people who may need a higher level of supervision and care than in an assisted living facility. They offer residents personal care, room and board, supervision, medication, therapies and rehabilitation, as well as skilled nursing care 24 hours a day.

Assisted Living Facilities (referred to as Residential Care Facilities in California) are living arrangements that provide personal care and health services for people who may need assistance with activities of daily living, but who wish to live as independently as possible and who do not need the level of care provided by a nursing home. It's important to note that assisted living is not an alternative to a nursing home, but an intermediate level of long-term care.

Adult Day Health Care centers can offer a much-needed break to caregivers. This type of care provides service at a community-based center for adults who need assistance or supervision during the day but who do not need round the clock care. The centers may provide health services, therapeutic services and
Social activities.

Home Health Aides help those who are elderly, disabled, or ill to live in their own homes or in residential care facilities instead of in nursing homes. Home health aides may offer care to people who need more extensive personal care than family or friends are able to or have the time or resources to provide.

Homemaker Services make it possible for people to live in their own homes or to return to their homes by helping them complete household tasks that they can't manage alone. Homemaker services aides may clean houses, cook meals or run errands

What is Long Term Care?
Something you may need if you can no longer perform everyday tasks by yourself.
For Example, there may come a time when you need help getting dressed, eating or bathing. It also includes the kind of care you would need if you had a severe cognitive impairment like Alzheimer’s disease.

You can receive this care in a variety of settings, including your home, an assisted living facility or a nursing home. 80% of all people receiving long term care assistance are not in nursing homes.

Many people don’t realize that the need for long term care can strike at any time. Statistics show that 40% of people receiving long term care services are between the ages of 18 and 64.

What is long term care insurance?
Insurance  that  allows you to retain your independence, preserve your quality of life, stay at home as long as possible, protect your assets and savings and avoid burdening family and friends both financially and physically.

Desirable Long Term Care Benefits
A good policy would include home care, assisted care including Alzheimer’s facilities and nursing homes, adult day care, hospice care, home health aides, homemaker services, physical, occupational and speech therapy, in home safety devices, rental of emergency medical response devices, and respite care for your primary unpaid care giver. 5% compound inflation coverage  with no limit on the duration of benefits.

Long Term Care Annuities

Thanks to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, starting January 1st. 2010, you no longer have to pay federal income tax on an annuity’s proceeds if you use those proceeds to pay for long-term care coverage. That means that the chronically ill or disabled will no longer have to rely solely on a regular long-term care insurance policy or Medicaid to fund their medical and non-medical care.

Beyond their newly favorable tax status, long-term-care annuities offer the flex appeal of having long-term care coverage, but, if you don’t need it, you can get your money back. In regular long-term care insurance policies, payments are forfeited to insurance companies even if services aren’t utilized. However, with an annuity, unspent funds belong solely to the account holder and can eventually be withdrawn. Those funds may also pass to beneficiaries in the event of death. If you’re too ill to qualify for a long-term-care insurance policy, you might have an easier time getting coverage through a long-term care annuity because there are fewer hoops to jump through.