After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a growing number of people are rethinking how they would want to receive long-term care, if needed, in later life, according to a new survey.¹

Long-term care can be a critically important part of retirement planning. Half (48%) of people age 65+ will require paid long-term care curing their lifetime, with a quarter (24%) of older adults receiving more than two years of paid long-term care.² Long-term care expenses can quickly drain retirement savings. The average cost of a nursing home private room is $106,000 per year, according to Genworth's national survey.

Nonetheless, most retirees have done little or no planning and preparation for long-term care. Only about one in ten retirees have any form of long-term care insurance,³ and, prior to the pandemic, half (54%) of those age 40 and older reported that they had done little or no planning for long-term care.⁴

Post-COVID, the vast majority of Americans (85%) say it is more important than ever to have a plan for long-term care.¹ Partly, this is driven by concern about health risks in later life that have been highlighted by COVID's toll among older adults. It’s also driven by concern about safety of some long-term care institutions. Four in ten (39%) of U.S. COVID-19 deaths occurred in nursing homes.⁵ Nearly half of adults (48%) worry more now about the safety of nursing homes; this is especially true for Boomers+ (57%), as compared to 43% of Millennials and 41% of Gen Xers. Almost nine in ten (87%) believe it's more important than ever for people to have the option to stay at home for long-term care.¹ 

Older adults are also very concerned about becoming a burden on family members if they do need long-term care. And, for many, COVID-19 has brought home the challenges of family caregiving. Most current caregivers feel the pandemic has made it nearly impossible for them to complete their caregiving duties as they did before (62%) and has prevented them from providing the care they once did (54%). Six in 10 current caregivers (64%) say the pandemic has impacted their financial ability to provide care.¹