While health insurance access expanded considerably under the Affordable Care Act, significant gaps remain less discussed yet ever more relevant as workforce demographics continue skewing older. Long-term care represents services spanning months, if not years, assisting aging adults or those suffering severe medical events requiring help with daily living activities. From home health aides to skilled nursing facilities and more, these vital services carry steep costs, too often paid directly out of pocket.
A Growing Need
With over half of people turning 65 estimated to require some form of long-term care support down the road and costs already averaging $54,000 annually for nursing facilities alone, this exposure represents a significant threat to retirement savings. Even Medicare provides minimal assistance – usually up to 100 days after a qualifying hospital stay. Meanwhile, one’s own health and mobility may be too compromised to return home independently. Deep financial distress often compounds already stressful situations.
Customizable Protection
As leaders in supplemental benefit solutions for employers for over ten years, ERB now offers long-term care coverage, integrating protection against this too-common gap. Available on either employer-paid or voluntary participation basis, our featured carriers provide benefits scaling up to cover facility, home health, and adult day care support spanning multiple years, not just weeks. Some plans even allow inherited payouts to beneficiaries if never utilized. We tailor options to match workplace demographics.
Driving Adoption Through Outreach
Unlike medical insurance, subsidized mainly by companies, long-term care represents an elective benefit each employee self-funds through payroll deduction. Getting the word out and demonstrating value proves essential to driving adoption. ERB designs multi-channel awareness campaigns combining easy online/mobile enrollment with on-site education sessions personalized for employee lifestyle stages – from starting families to mid-career asset protection and beyond.
Ongoing touchpoints through newsletters, lunch-and-learns, and more reinforce how coverage protects savings from surprise costs. With long-term care events remaining abstract, until they occur, consistent messaging spotlights real member stories, humanizing the journey. Retiree training covers benefit utilization, paperwork, and family involvement, helping navigate sensitive times. For hands-on help, dedicated consultants offer claims assistance and care option guidance tailored to each situation.
While long-term care needs to touch many families eventually, costs spiral ever higher, exposing retirement savings to potential catastrophe requiring prudent planning today. As California’s leading benefit innovator for over a decade and counting, ERB offers expertise and partnership to help employers protect their most valuable asset – their people.
Partnering for Lasting Security
With long-term care needs touching half of adults eventually while costs spiral ever higher, this benefit gap exposes retirement savings to potential catastrophes requiring prudent planning today. As California’s leading benefit innovator for over a decade and counting, ERB offers expertise and partnership to help employers protect their most valuable asset – their people. To learn more about securing your workforce’s future, contact ERB.
