Excerpt from: HT Health (click for full article)
Andy Shapiro had never given much thought to whether he would need help with daily activities as he aged. After all, the 61-year-old software consultant figured, he kept himself in good shape.
Then, about five years ago, his 81-year-old parents lost their vitality, seemingly overnight.
“Both of my parents rapidly went from being healthy — swimming, playing tennis — to being frail,” he said. His mother developed a form of dementia and died within a year.
His father has required a live-in health care aide for the last two years. He has been able to afford that and stay in his home because about 30 years ago, he bought a long-term care insurance policy.
Such policies pay for help with daily activities and care, like dressing, bathing and feeding, either at home or in an assisted-living facility or a nursing home. Without the coverage provided by the policy, Shapiro said, his father would be living in a nursing home — something Shapiro, who lives in Woodstock, N.Y., dreads.
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