Close to half of California voters 40 years and older claim that they will need long-term care for a close family member within the next 5 year. Yet just as many say they don’t have the funds to cover even one month of nursing home care, currently averaging $6,800. These findings are the result of a recent poll from The SCAN Foundation and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research; this is their 3rd year of conducting this poll.
The poll demonstrates that Californians, regardless of political party or income level, are not successfully saving funds for future long-term care expenses. Almost 1/2 of the people polled said their income has declined this year, 22% have borrowed money to help cover their basic expenses, and 42% have even cut back on necessary expenses such as food and transportation.
Many people are concerned about growing older in a time where both the aging population is expanding rapidly and the state is in financial crisis. California’s population of people aged 65 and older is expected to double to 8 million in 20 years by 2032.
For Latinos statewide, the situation is even more dire. Below is an excerpt of some of the findings for California’s Latino voter population:
91% of Latino voters could not afford more than 3 months of nursing home care, and 86% could not afford more than 3 months of part-time in-home care.
78% of Latino respondents said they worry about making ends meet, compared with 53% of whites.
Nearly 1 in 4 Latino respondents (23%) had medical debt, compared with 15% of whites.
Nearly 1 in 3 Latino respondents (31%) inaccurately believe Medicare covers long-term nursing home care — more than twice as many as white respondents (12%).
60% of Latino voters anticipate a close family member needing paid long-term care in the next 5 years, compared to 46% of white respondents.
