Long-Term Care Poll

The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research are doing a series of polls on Americans’ experiences and views of long-term care. As described on the website, the AP-NORC “is undertaking a series of major studies on the public’s experiences with, and opinions and attitudes about, long-term care in the United States.”

Demographic projections show the population age 65 and over nearly doubling by the time the last baby boomers have reached 65. Specifically, while seniors made up only 12 percent of the U.S. population in 2000, they are expected to comprise about 22 percent by 2040, with roughly 82 million Americans over the age of 65. How to plan for and finance high quality long-term care will remain a key policy question for lawmakers in the years to come.

The AP-NORC Center, with funding from the SCAN Foundation, is conducting annual nationally representative surveys of Americans age 40 and older to monitor a series of long-term care issues. Future studies will continue to examine awareness of older Americans’ understanding of the long-term care system, their perceptions and misperceptions regarding the likelihood of needing long-term care services and the cost of those services, and their attitudes and behaviors regarding planning for long-term care. 

The results from 5 polls, ranging from 2013 to 2015  can be accessed here. The most recent poll, conducted in April-May, 2015, focuses on Long-Term Care in America: Americans’ Outlook and Planning for Future Care which “explores new issues, including person-centered care experiences, the role of private health insurance plans in financing long-term care, and the special challenges faced by those who provide ongoing living assistance to elderly loved ones while also providing financial support to children. At the same time, the survey continues to track long-term care attitudes and planning behaviors.” A quick take away summary from this

Five Things You Should Know From The AP-NORC Center’s Long-Term Care Poll Among adults age 40 and older:

• Nearly 1 in 10 are both supporting a child and providing ongoing living assistance for a loved one.
• Only a third say they are very or extremely confident in their ability to pay for ongoing living assistance they may need in the future.
• 54 percent report doing little or no planning for these needs.
• 1 in 5 do not know if private health insurance plans cover ongoing care in a nursing home, and over a quarter do not know if Medicare does.
• Majorities support a variety of policy options that would help Americans finance long-term care.