Long-term care costs upwards of $80,000 a year at home and $130,000 for a nursing home bed, yet only 15% of Americans over 65 have any insurance to cover it. Government has no comprehensive answer for it, making it one of the largest uninsured risks in American life.
Our portfolio company Waterlily uses AI and predictive analytics to help individuals understand their personal long-term care risk. It estimates when they’re likely to need care, for how long, and what it will cost. The tool, aimed at people over 40, draws on government data and a private database covering roughly 50,000 families to generate individualized projections. The New York Times recently featured Waterlily as a solution to one of the most consequential and least-discussed financial planning gaps facing Americans.
According to actuarial firm Milliman, about half of men and 60% of women will use some form of paid long-term care after age 65. Milliman estimates a 65-year-old needs $135,000 set aside today to cover average expected lifetime long-term care costs, a figure that swings wildly based on individual circumstances, from $30,000 for those needing less than a year of care to $665,000 for those needing five or more years.
Without a personalized view of that risk, most people do nothing. Waterlily lets users explore insurance options and coverage scenarios directly through the platform. Nearly half report planning to purchase long-term care coverage after using it.
At Great North Ventures, we invest in founders who see structural failures in large markets and build durable solutions. Long-term care sits at the intersection of a demographic wave, with more than four million Americans turning 65 this year alone. Waterlily is helping families see what’s coming and plan for it before the cost becomes a crisis.
We’re proud to back co-founders Lily Vittayarukskul and Evan Ehrenberg and the entire Waterlily team as their work earns the national attention it deserves.
Read the full New York Times piece.
