- [Narrator] Long-term care is not something many people plan for, but about 70% of us will need long-term care at some point in our lives, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

That need is often filled by family caregivers, like Vickie Harris.

- There was a point where I was simply overwhelmed.

One evening, driving back from Lewisburg, I actually concluded that no one knew how challenged I was and that I was the equivalent of a tree falling in the forest and no one knew.

We fail family caregivers because we don't provide enough supports that allow them to remain what I would call viable in the community as they were.

- [Narrator] According to the National Alliance for Caregiving, nearly one in five people in the United States are unpaid family caregivers, and they pay a cost to do so.

In 2017, most family caregivers spent an average of $7,000 out of pocket and thousands more in lost wages from missed work.

Like Harris, many families are unprepared for the real cost of long-term care.

And some assume that Medicare will pick up the tab, but that's largely false.

- [Grace] It covers some expenses on a limited basis.

For example, nursing home care for rehab after a fall or hip replacement surgery.

Limited care for a limited amount of time.

- [Narrator] There are basically three ways to cover the cost of long-term care.

- It's private pay, long-term care insurance, but only 7% of people 50 and older have long-term care insurance, and then there are state Medicaid programs, which you basically have to spend down your resources and qualify medically to be covered by Medicaid.

People are not retiring with enough money to pay for long-term care, and that is a huge issue that's going to drive more people to try to qualify for Medicaid.

Our government leaders really should be looking at what's happening today with families and caregiving and aging baby boomers and hearing the alarm bells go off.

(light piano music)