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Originally Posted by Bc2005
Keep in mind that the Long Term Care (LTC) industry has had a lot of difficulty figuring out how to set rates and conditions over the past few years. Rates have gone up significantly because insurers found they had higher claims than expected.
Remember that you pay the premium until you die, and if you cancel it at any point you then usually lose the value of all premiums you have paid. It works like term life insurance.
If you start your policy at age 56 you will probably pay premiums for 30-40 years, and will receive nothing if you die before you need LTC.
All policies also have a cap on the number of years paid, how much per month, and the total amount that will be paid. The numbers that you chose 15-20 years ago may not be enough to support today’s LTC costs for very long.
For example, if I had you set aside money in 2003 for a new BMW in 2023 how far would that money go to buy one today?
Some friends of mine decided to take a different route, and they took out large life insurance policies on each other. They assume that if one of them needs LTC they will just absorb the cost out of savings until that person dies, and then replenish the savings using the life insurance.
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Life insurance policies now contain long term care riders so a spouse does not have to die before benefits are paid. These are " hybrid" policies. There are several out there now. I'm not sure you can find a dedicated long term care policy anymore.