Many people will need to stay in a nursing home at some point in their lives. How much care they'll need and how long they need to stay, however, can be hard to predict. And unfortunately, Medicare won’t cover long-term care. For this reason, it’s important to plan ahead in case you (or a loved one) can no longer function on your own later in life and will have to pay for a nursing home.
In fact, the number of individuals needing long-term care is on the rise. According to a 2022 study from the Department of Human Health and Services, over half (56%) of Americans turning 65 today will develop a disability serious enough to require long-term care. The number of seniors needing long-term care is expected to rise from 6.3 million in 2015 to an estimated 15 million by 2050, reports the National Academy of Social Insurance. And the cost of nursing home care is also on the rise.
