Welcome to LTC Global Canada
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The Looming Long Term Care Crisis in Canada
The good news is that Canadians are
living longer thanks to healthier lifestyles and dramatic improvements in the detection
and treatment of disease.
"However, the longer people live, the more likely they will need help with caring
for themselves at some stage due to an accident, chronic illness, the aging process
and/or a cognitive impairment."
As a result of our aging population and increased longevity, the demand for long
term care has risen significantly over the last decade and will continue to grow
as the boomers enter into their retirement years.
In the past, Canadian families were relatively larger and thus there were a number
of family members to share the responsibility of looking after aging parents. Today,
the family structure in Canada has changed. Canadians are having fewer children.
More women are working and are having children later in life. Increased labour mobility
means that family members are more geographically dispersed and therefore less likely
to be located near their parents when care is required. The end result of these
changes is a major reduction in the traditional sources of care giving.
Due to spiraling health care costs as a result of an aging population, publicly
funded long term care services have been frozen or even reduced in recent years.
Many Canadians who assist a family member in need of long term care are shocked
to discover that Provincial Health Insurance Plans and private supplementary health
insurance essentially does not cover long term care and that the cost of care is
very expensive, whether that care is provided at home or in a facility. Unfortunately,
most people learn about long term care the hard way – when they or a family member
needs extended care. Long term care expenses can quickly deplete savings that took
a lifetime to accumulate.
"Long term care insurance programs have been established to allow individuals to
reduce the risk of financial hardship, avoid burdening loved ones, protecting assets
from the high costs of long term care; and to provide peace of mind."