Essay On Long Term Care

Long-term healthcare facilities are designed for patients who need help with their daily functions such as eating, bathing, dressing, running errands etc. These patients are not able to perform these activities by themselves and require a hired professional in order to live a somewhat normal life. Long-term care is for patients who have a temporary or long-term illness, disability or some type of injury affecting their ability to perform day-to-day activities. This type of healthcare facility is different than a hospital because hospitals are for acute problems that acquire immediate medical attention for example a stroke. The long-term facility would be used after the patient was treated at the hospital and now require around the clock care at home to help them perform their daily activities that they are unable to perform themselves. Therefore, hospitals are for acute situations that provide patients with sufficient treatment and long-term healthcare facilities are the aftermath of any type of medical condition that requires constant assistance.

In other words, government insurance will always cover hospital cost, but that is not always the case for long-term care. For example, insurance will only cover long-term care for certain healthcare conditions that require rehabilitation after a hospital stay or limited care to help the patient get back on their feet. Unfortunately, all other cases, Medicare does not cover long-term care unless the patient has great veteran insurance and is at least 70% disabled from the military service or if the patient is classified as impoverished (Day, 2012). Either way the government makes it extremely difficult for these individuals to receive proper care and in some cases families have to spend thousands of dollars in order to help their loved ones survive on a daily