Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Long Term Care (LTC) Insurance - What are your facts?

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

Some additional information might be useful ,,,

Only about a quarter of Americans die in a nursing home.  Most die in their own 
homes, or living with family, or during a brief hospital or hospice stay.

Of those who do die in a nursing home, average length of stay is about half a 
year.  Since the advent of Medicare, eligibility rules have been tightened 
strenuously, such that one is not eligible for public reimbursement unless one 
is very, very sick.  The frail but basically competent elderly, when not living 
independently, have moved into assisted living or other alternative settings.  
If you visit nursing homes today, you may be horrified at the debilitated 
condition of nearly every patient.  But this is not because the nursing home is 
a bad place giving bad care.  It’s because the patients are very old, and in 
very tough shape.  If they are not, Medicare won’t pay for them.

So I’ll re-emphasize what I said:  I think thoughtful and realistic cohousing 
programs can function much like do-it-yourself assisted living.  And — provided 
that the community is intentionally and pro-actively on board — add 
considerable value to what is now a prolonged sequence of decline.  But at some 
point, many elders become very, very sick, and in order to gain another 6 to 12 
months of life, will probably need professional healthcare in a professional 
setting.  Which is not likely to be cohousing.

Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Village Cohousing
Cambridge, MA

> On Dec 8, 2015, at 11:06 AM, Ann Zabaldo <zabaldo [at] earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> If we can't figure out a way to keep our elders in our communities then we're 
> no different than any other standard housing development.   
> 
> Offloading elderly to nursing homes is The Default action of our society 
> right now.