SMAX showgoers warned of the impending Medicaid tsunami

As another successful Senior Market Advisor Expo moved into its final day, long-term care insurance expert Phyllis Shelton had some scary but important information for those who are looking to emphasize the benefits of LTCI.

Shelton, who has been doing plenty of research on the impacts of the new national health care legislation, says that the 500-pound gorilla in the corner is, in fact, Medicaid, which currently consumes 20 percent of most state budgets, a third of which is spent on long-term care. Medicaid spending, she discovered, currently exceeds Medicare and Social Security combined.

By the year 2030, Shelton says 35 percent of state expenditures will go toward Medicaid, almost half of which will be spent on government-subsidized LTC. And with both the huge generational impact of the retiring baby boomer generation and the ongoing financial troubles of the current working generation, the result is a "perfect storm" that threatens to send already embattled governments into a financial spiral.