Long-term care (LTC) is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical needs of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods of time. It is common for long-term care to provide custodial and non-skilled care, such as assisting with normal daily tasks.

Increasingly, long term care involves providing a level of medical care that requires the expertise of skilled practitioners to address the often multiple chronic conditions associated with older populations.

Long-term care can be provided at home, in the community, in assisted living nursing homes. Long-term care may be needed by people of any age, even though it is a common need for senior citizens.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates that about nine million men and women over the age of 65 in the U.S. will need long-term care in 2006.

By 2020, 12 million older Americans will need long-term care. It is anticipated that most will be cared for at home; family and friends are the sole caregivers for 70 percent of the elderly. A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that four out of every ten people who reach age 65 will enter a nursing home at some point in their lives.About 10 percent of the people who enter a nursing home will stay there five years or more. The BenefitWorks has several programs available to meet a variety of needs.