The Insurance Buying Guide: Long-Term Care Insurance Conclusion

The chance of an expensive stay in a nursing home is a very real risk for the senior citizen. Due to increasing life expectancy, the average length of a nursing home stay will gradually increase, as will the average expense.

The basic problem is how to pay for nursing home care. Medicare actually offers very few benefits for care in a nursing facility, especially for custodial care. Medicaid will cover nursing home expenses only for the financially needy.

Another alternative is to rely on friends and relatives for necessary care. Or you can pay for nursing home costs from present financial assets. Depending on the length and cost of such a stay, the bill could be considerable and you may exhaust available financial resources. While this would make you eligible for Medicaid, it's cold comfort for people who had planned to leave something to their heirs.

The natural solution to the problem is LTC insurance. This type of policy can protect your assets. It also gives you flexibility and freedom of choice in the selection of a nursing home. And it allows you to maintain a degree of independence.