Estimated impoverishment risk for two samples of community-living elderly (N=900+). Found that for elders over age 75, 46 percent of those living alone and 2 percent of couples would spend lifetime assets and current income, becoming impoverished in 13 weeks if institutionalized in skilled nursing facility. Rates were comparable for elders over…

Considers impoverishment as a consequence of continuous institutionalization in a nursing home to be a public policy problem and the plight for any older Americans. Discusses one form of long-term care (LTC) insurance, the continuing care retirement community or life care community, and contrasts this small LTC self-insurance group with two other…