Why Women Need Public Long-Term Care Insurance--an OWL Report

Mom at age 77, in her memory care facilityWomen continue to live longer than men, are the primary consumers of long-term care, and as family caregivers provide more hands-on care (such as feeding, showering, and toileting) than men. Many men are hands-on caregivers, of course, but long-term care remains a major issue for women.

A new Mother’s Day report from OWL (the Older Women’s League) explains why U.S. women need a public long-term care insurance program similar to those of other nations.

My mother, Judy, who passed away a year ago with Alzheimer’s disease at age 80, did not have long-term care insurance. Instead, as a divorced elementary school teacher raising me on her own, she tracked her living expenses on color-coded spreadsheets, and pinched every penny her whole life. After investing in some mutual funds, she retired with a modest pension and about $150,000 in savings—all hard-won. Unfortunately, six years of long-term care wiped out her savings—and she needed two additional years of care.

In my post this week for caregivers.com I take a look at OWL's report, and consider how the last years of my mother’s life (and my own as her caregiver) might have been less stressful and financially ruinous if she had had private LTC insurance or access to the kind of public LTC insurance many nations offer. 

Read the post here.

Women are at the Epicenter of the Dementia Epidemic

Mom and me about 10 years before her symptoms of dementia beganDid you know that 65% of all people with Alzheimer's disease are women? That 60% of Alzheimer's caregivers are women? That a woman age 65 or older has a 1 in 6 chance of developing Alzheimer's disease, compared to 1 in 11 for a man? 

I have been thinking of writing a second book (expanding on the information in my first book's appendices) tentatively entitled "A Woman's Guide to Lowering Your Risk of Alzheimer's Disease," because as women we learn about our risk factors in a piecemeal fashion--a little here and there, and we often hear nothing about the less well-known risk factors, such as having sleep apnea or insulin resistance. We're also so busy taking care of others that we let our own health slide. 

Today the Alzheimer's Association released its 2014 Facts and Figures Report, which includes some statistics on women and Alzheimer's that I hadn't seen before. For a summary of that information, and a cool 1.5-minute video, check out their webpage. 

For now, a second book will have to wait, but I hope to share more information in this blog about the particular risk factors for women, and the steps we can take to reduce our risk, particularly if we have a family history of Alzheimer's disease or another dementia.

To read more about women and Alzheimer's, you can purchase a report by Maria Shriver and the Alzheimer's Association called "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Takes on Alzheimer's" ($9.46).