Insurance company find pensioner healthcare planning lacking

The greater proportion of pensioners have not given any thought to Long Term Care, according to a survey by the GE Life. GE Life is an insurance company that specialise in capital and income retirement planning, and their recent survey has important implications for care of the elderly.

They found that four of every five pensioners had given no thought as to how they would meet the cost of healthcare should they become too ill to look after themselves. GE Life raise the important point that 3 million people will spend their last years in a care home, and families are often the ones to pick up the financial burden.

Apparently, only 6 per cent of those surveyed expected their family to pay . Around a third expected to rely on savings, and almost the same number expected the government to pay. 1 in 5 had no idea how they would pay.

GE life indicates that very few people have made provision with critical illness cover, or other types of long term insurance policy . They indicate that as the population ages, state funding will become less, and the problems associated with funding care will become far worse.