Monday, 9 January 2006
Long Term Care Worries
The public is a little uneasy when it comes to long term care these days. Only 35% of adults responding to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey thought nursing homes were doing a “good job.” That’s significantly lower than the public perception of others in the health care industry, including nurses (84% doing a “good job” serving consumers), doctors (69%), hospitals (64%) and even pharmaceutical companies (43%).
While most people agree that nursing home staff care about their patients, 74% also agree that nursing homes are generally understaffed, 60% believe staff do not receive adequate training and 58% perceive too much waste, fraud and abuse.
While some Americans are concerned about their potential long term care needs, only 21% of adults actually have a long term care policy. The most common reason? Too expensive, according to those surveyed.
And while the overwhelming majority of Americans (84%) have had experience with a nursing home over the last three years, 32% of those without a long term care policy report that they’ve just never thought about it.
To read more of the survey’s findings, visit Kaiser Family Foundation online.Technorati Tags: Life Insurance
