Forest Hill's Jeff Judge in CNBC: Medicare will not cover the long-term care you're picturing

By Jeff Judge, CFP®, AEP®, ChFC®, CLU®, Managing Partner, Chesapeake Financial Planners, Forest Hill, MD.

Almost 4 in 10 middle-class households are counting on Medicare to pay for their long-term care someday. It generally will not. Medicare may cover up to 100 days in a skilled nursing facility, and only right after a hospital stay. It does not touch the ongoing custodial care that most long-term care actually looks like.

CNBC asked me about this misunderstanding, and my answer was direct: people assume Medicare is their long-term care plan. It isn't, and finding that out during a crisis is the worst possible time to learn it.

I see this play out across Harford County constantly. Families in Fallston and Aberdeen who have done everything right on paper, saved consistently, paid off the house, still have not had the long-term care conversation because they assumed Medicare had it covered. Retirees around Bel Air ask me about market timing far more often than they ask about this, even though this is the risk more likely to actually derail the plan.

The fix is not complicated. It is early. Shop for long-term care coverage in your 50s or 60s, not your 70s. Premiums are lower, and you still have access to features like cost-of-living adjustments that can be harder to find later. Check the assumption now, while you still have options.

This piece builds on "Does Medicare pay for long-term care? Many people get it wrong, and it may cost them later," in CNBC (September 2026).

Jeff Judge, CFP®, AEP®, ChFC®, CLU®, is Managing Partner at Chesapeake Financial Planners in Forest Hill, MD. Book an intro call.