Farmers are concerned about the costs of long-term care
A Farmer’s View of the Death of Her Husband Kim: What They Have Learned and How They Have Helped Her During His Life
Kim: After I visited, Cindie was going to sell their truck, but then Sherwood passed away two months later. Even as she mourns her husband’s death, Cindie is still working to protect their farm. She says as long as she stays healthy for the next two years until Medicaid kicks in, the land can stay in their family.
People from both old and new attended his service. Weeks later, Cindie said fellow farmers continued to reach out to give their condolences and share stories about her husband — many of which were new to her.
“They work their whole life, they pay their own bills,” he said. When they need the most help to get to the finish line, they have to wipe out everything they have accumulated in their life to get that help.
There needs to be better solutions for elderly farmers with high long-term care costs, according to the president of Farmers Union Insurance.
A 200-mile walk from a Norwegian immigrants’ home to Fargo, North Dakota: A difficult trip for a 40-year-old Haakensons
After collapsing at home, Sherwood was taken to the emergency room in Fargo, North Dakota, some 200 miles away. He was taken to the ER six times in four months.
It felt as though it was a close call every time. It is difficult for EMT crews to find the couple’s home at night. It was not possible for Cindie to bring him to the hospital on her own.
Although the nursing home was just a 20-minute drive from their home, it was hard for him to settle in. The Haakensons had never done well far from home. They preferred the quiet, and their favorite view was from their family room window.
His family was part of a large group of Norwegian immigrants. By the time he was born, the town had nearly 600 residents. It’s close to 150 people, a grocery store, a high school, and two bars that are no longer open.
Farms are what small family farmers are: Long-Term Care Insurance is a Problem for Farmers with Few Families, Not Just a Few
Moore from Ohio State University said that land rich, cash poor farmers are what small family farmers are.
“Most farmers live very frugally,” he said. “They don’t have living expenses of $100,000 a year. So when they get a $100,000 bill from the nursing home every year, that’s just not in their budget.”
40% of the farms in the United States are owned by farmers over the age of 65. Despite a trend of consolidation, as of 2022, about three-quarters of farms earned $50,000 or less in sales a year, according to the Department of Agriculture.
The Haakensons sold their tools and machinery years ago. The only important item left to sell was their pickup, which would have helped make up for the two months of care.
The problems of long-term care insurance are plentiful, from complex underwriting to rising premiums. German said only a tiny amount of his clients use it.
Short-term care policies are a newer alternative to long-term care insurance, said Lance Boyer, a sales director at Farmers Union Insurance in North Dakota. But their benefits usually last no more than a year.
The cost of senior care: Why aging farmers fear the nursing home: A case study of the Haakensons family farm in Willow City, North Dakota
“They are really affordable and underwriting is pretty simple,” he said. But “it’s yet to be determined how impactful they are in the market because they’re still so new.”
The choices are especially daunting for small farmers, according to Robert Moore, an attorney and researcher at Ohio State University’s Agricultural & Resource Law Program.
A third of Americans 65 and older will need a year of nursing home care in their lifetime, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. While Medicare generally doesn’t cover semiprivate rooms, it costs an average of $8,700 per month. Long-term care insurance exists, but it’s deeply unpopular with older Americans. Many seniors choose to use their retirement funds or savings to get the care they need, while others go for Medicaid, which has its own challenges.
The Haakensons own about 2,600 acres in North Dakota’s Willow City area. Most of the small cattle and wheat farm has been in Sherwood’s family for over 130 years. It survived the farm crisis of the 1980s and brutal winters. Many elderly family farmers fear that they will have to break up their farm to pay for long-term care when they are no longer able to work.
“We’ve got enough tucked away to keep him for about a year. After that, I’m not sure,” Cindie said. We could sell our farmland, but it is like giving away a part of your legacy.
Source: The cost of senior care: Why aging farmers fear the nursing home
Why farmers worry about the costs of long-term care? A story of Sherwood Haakenson, a man farmed all his life
The 74-year-old husband of her had had a series of low blood sugar episodes due to his heart problems. Finally, he could receive the 24-hour supervision he desperately needed.
KIM: That’s Sherwood Haakenson from N.D. He farmed all his life on the land that his great-great-grandfather homesteaded in 1890. At the care center I met him.
KIM: They might sell their livestock or machinery, but that only gets them so far. So some farmers apply for Medicaid, the federal insurance program for the poor and elderly. And now it’s a little different in each state, but generally, to be eligible, seniors have to drain their assets. For farmers, that means their land.
Obstacles: This is a dynamic that is tough for a lot of people in a lot of walks of life. You can’t apply for Medicaid if you don’t own land.
KIM: Right. Some farmers are working around that by transferring their land into a trust and naming their children as beneficiaries. It still takes five years after the application date before Medicaid will pay for long-term care in most states. They didn’t get any assistance when I met them because they had already moved their land to their children but were still within the five-year lookback period.
Source: Why farmers worry about the costs of long-term care
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Farmers Union Insurance President Lance Boyer has said, “There needs to be better solutions for elderly farmers with high long-term care costs.” Boyer added that there needs to be better solutions for elderly farmers with high long-term care costs. Short-term care policies are a newer alternative to long-term care insurance, Boyer further said.