As the U.S. adult population ages, the demand for long-term care is expected to rise. However, the majority of Americans 40 and older are not confident they will be able to pay for it, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey.
The survey, reported by ABC News, found a third of Americans 40 and older have not done any planning for their own long-term care needs, such as reserving money to pay for a home aide or a room in a nursing home. The reason? About 4 in 10 U.S. adults don't think they will ever need long-term care, according to the report.
This mindset is contrary to figures from the U.S. Administration on Aging, which estimates nearly 70 percent of people turning 65 will need help with daily activities as they age.
According to an analysis by Genworth Financial, the annual cost of long-term care expenses range from $17,680 for adult care services to more than $92,000 for a private room in a nursing home.
In the survey, about 36 percent of American adults feel somewhat confident and 24 percent said they are not very confident or not confident at all in their ability to pay for long-term care. In 2013, 27 percent of respondents said they are confident in their ability to pay for long-term care, according to the report.
Medicaid, the primary payer for long-term care, spent $146 billion in 2013, of which $89 billion was just for seniors, according to the report.
However, the survey found nearly 4 in 10 respondents mistakenly believe Medicare will cover long-term care, though the federal healthcare program does not cover such services. Respondents with incomes below $50,000 were more likely to expect to depend on government programs to pay for long-term care, according to the report.