term care crisis, some people have advocated that the Federal Government develop a program to pay for everyone’s long-term care. The Federal Government addressed this call to action in 1997, with not another entitlement, but with a health care reform package that provides tax incentives for individuals and employers to purchase long-term care insurance. Essentially, with this legislation, the government informed Americans that there isn’t enough money for any type of public program to pay for long-term care for everyone. It should be crystal clear that Congress has sent the American people a message: there will be no long-term care entitlement program because there just isn’t enough money. However, in 2002, the Federal Government sent the strongest message yet when it made available a long-term care insurance program exclusively to active government employees and retirees, postal workers, military personnel, and their qualified family members. Congress has said to the American people, loudly and clearly, to take care of their long-term care needs themselves or with the assistance of private insurance. The Caring Part of Your Financial Plan By choosing to add long-term care insurance to your financial protection package, you are letting your family know that their personal and financial security is important. Besides having the financial protection to pay for long-term care with long-term care insurance, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that, if you or a covered member of your family should require long-term care, your family’s lifestyle can continue. You won’t need to jeopardize your plans for the future just because of one accident or major illness. Being able to hire caregivers can mean preserving the lifestyle that you’ve worked so hard for by being responsible for someone else’s care 24/7 and not being able to spend time with your children, pay for their education, live where you want to live, accept promotions, take vacations, or even meet day-to-day financial obligations.
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