Fortunately for the Republic, I do politics, not public policy. Sometimes, however, the sense of impending national crisis reaches out from the data and smacks an analyst in the face. So it was with two polls we conducted recently – both with our colleagues across the aisle at Public Opinion Strategies.Together they paint a portrait of Americans woefully unprepared for the financial pressures they will face as they, and their parents, age. Consider long-term care. About 60 percent of those over 65 will need at least some long-term care services during their lifetime, while over 40 percent will require a nursing home stay. The need will come as little surprise to most Americans, as 40 percent expect a close family member to require long-term care during the next 10 years. Nevertheless, there are some shocks to come.Despite clearheaded recognition of what lies ahead, 70 percent of Americans have done no planning whatsoever for long-term care. In fact, more than two-thirds of those who expect to need such care for a family member in the next five years have made no plans, and 81 percent have made no preparations for the financial demands they will be called upon to meet.In part, Americans seriously underestimate the costs involved. On average, they estimate a year in a nursing home will cost $40,000. In 2006, the average cost for a semi-private room was 150 percent of the public’s estimate.Perhaps more important, the public misunderstands who pays. An AARP survey found 59 percent of Americans over 45 years old believing that Medicare would pay for nursing home care, despite the fact that the Department of Health and Human Services clearly states that, “Medicare does not pay for what comprises the majority of long-term care services