PREPPING FOR THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY

FOR BABY BOOMERS, END-OF-LIFE CARE WILL BE A TOP PRIORITY

- DAMIEN MARTIN

The oldest Baby Boomers will turn 80 soon, and tens of millions are setting their sights on retirement and planning out their remaining time. They’re the largest generation so far in American history to reach this stage of life, and they would love to live out the rest of it in comfort and dignity. Millions every year will be looking for quality end-of-life care. There are already about 15 million people in the country receiving long-term care, and close to 2 million in hospice care. Most people who pass age 65 will need long-term care, and about a quarter of them will need significant amounts of it—planning for all that is a massive task for Baby Boomers, their families, and the healthcare industry.

END-OF-LIFE CARE COSTS

By 2050, the number of Americans receiving long-term care is set to double, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimate. Costs for end-of-life care can be high. Assisted living facilities and home health aides can cost around $50,000 annually, with private rooms in nursing homes topping out around twice that.

Medicare will pay for only a fraction of those costs, and Medicaid doesn’t kick in until people have run out of other resources. Even private insurance might be of little help, as many insurers have dropped such coverage options or made premiums prohibitively expensive as they calculated the risks of so many people aging at one time.