Don’t say I didn’t warn you about the hazards of not planning responsibly for your long-term care (LTC).

Unpaid care, normally provided by family and friends, is not calculated into the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but if was, it would represent a significant percentage of the GDP.

According to www.longlivetexans.com/index.php/site/facts-figures, TX ranks number two nationally in the amount of uncompensated care provided by caregivers. We also have a very high incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease.

It’s unpaid care that can kill. Much, if not most care in the US is provided by family and friends on an unpaid basis and often at huge physical, emotional, and financial sacrifice to the amateur caregivers.

A new study by the AARP Public Policy Institute and the United Hospital Fund reports on just how much care, and what type of care employed family members (unpaid caregivers) provide. Here’s the link to the study. The findings are alarming. Despite workplace obligations, nearly half of all employed family caregivers perform many of the tasks we normally associated with licensed health care professionals, including a range of medical/nursing tasks, such as medication management, wound care, using meters and monitors, and more.

This report also describes the characteristics and stress levels of working versus unemployed family caregiver. No surprise: employed caregivers suffer more stress.

People who own long-term care insurance and need long-term care create less stressful, more dignified, considerate outcomes for themselves and those they love. They have more long-term care options to choose from. Watch some of the videos here to learn why.

I will never understand why well educated people, with successful careers and decent incomes, who can afford reasonably priced long-term care insurance, often go out of their way to avoid having even a preliminary conversation about responsible long-term care planning with me.