When seniors are searching for home care, they often seek the advice of their children first, particularly their daughters. Many seniors assume that their children have a better grip on the current economic situation and understand the health care system. The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance found some unsettling results in a recent study.

Although the study was about long term care planning for women, if daughters of seniors misunderstand their own long term care plans, they also have the potential to misguide the care plans of their parents.

Almost 20 percent of women participants in a national survey believed that they already had long-term care coverage, while only about 5 percent of U.S. adults over the age of 45 actually had it. The survey suggests that many women may assume that their health coverage includes long-term care, when in reality it doesn’t.

Investigating long term care plans for both the senior and their child will help both understand the ins and outs of the system.