No such thing as a free lunch

I’m enjoying the mini-revolt being aimed at the AARP by a small percentage of its membership. I read this week that the group has shed 60,000 members this month in protest of the group’s support of the so-called “health insurance reform” bills that are wending their way through Congress.

Without getting political, I just want to state what I have found to be a great truth in life which is that there really is no such thing as a free lunch.

For years, middle class folks who maintain all different kinds of insurance policies haven’t insured against long term care. The most rational reason for not making that purchase is that two federal programs, Medicare and Medicaid, will provide that kind of care for free.

Really….Don’t we all know that someone is paying for this care, and it’s the generation that follows the recipients of this care that picks up the tab? Not so free after all…

The other thing about “free” care of this nature is that in order to qualify on a long term basis, you need to be on Medicaid, the same program that pays for the care of unwed mothers, orphans, and the poor. In a more candid time, we called that welfare. So, there is a social cost to this “free” care.

Finally, there are the practical limitations. Medicaid pays for semi-private accommodations. Before you decide not to purchase private long term care insurance, you might want to pay a visit to a Medicaid nursing home and see just what kind of care “free care” provides.

Even the best of us can drop the turkey. What’s your contingency plan if you do?