A chronic shortage of long-term-care beds exists, so frail individuals who can't return home wait in hospital for space in a long-term-care institution.
So residents of long-term-care homes are deemed, at least for meals, to be in less need of nutrition, comfort foods, diapers and nursing than criminals.
Assessing long-term-care insurance needs is part of the retirement planning process, but advisers tend to fall short once the need for care actually arrives.