Check out N.A.S.E.
They have a great medical insurance plan.
They actually refund your premiums after so many years if you don't use the policy!
My folks pumped many, many thousands of dollars into long-term care, but my father never got to use it. Everything he paid in was gone when he passed suddenly. My Mom used hers for about a year and a half. The company was very stingy with its payouts. Had her on a very short string. By the time she passed she had only used a very small amount of what was paid in.
That was four years ago. Perhaps the companies are more fair now. I do not remember the company name, unfortunately.
I recently looked into getting long term care insurance and discovered several things:
There has not been a lot of experience with this type of insurance as it is a rather new product. An attraction is low premium while young; however, there is some evidence of premium escalation although the industry does not like to admit this fact.
Get it as young as you can if you are going to get it. Also be in perfect health. I was denied because of a common health problem. Lance Armstrong probably could not get it. It is obvious that the providers really watch their interests closely.
Not everyone ends up in a nursing home. Most of the plans offer options - a common one being the insurance does not kick in for the first 90 days of need (and need is strictly defined). It is also subject ot period of need limits etc. Lots of options really seem more like restrictions to me.
I will probably get it for my spouse since it is cheap ($30.00 per month) for her.
I'd go with John Hancock if you can. They seem to have a reputation in the field.
Roughly speaking, (Met Life) you can choose a plan that pays "X" monthly or daily for a care facility, or half of that figure for home care. Roughly speaking again, what we've bought would cover somewhere around $130 a day for a facility.
Buy it while you're as young as you can - we started ours in our early fifties; holds the rates down.
See "Nursing Home Insurance Insights" at ...
http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/homemgt/g1013.htm
YOu could put your assets in a trust and preserve your estate for your heirs and then let the "state" or medicaid (both synonomous with "your neighbor or taxpayers) take care of you
You need to see a good financial advisor. LTC is a small part of an overall financial plan encompassing protection, savings and growth and to answer what kind you need or how much, or whether you need it at all, is difficult to answer without knowing a lot of other information.
I got my AARP long-term policy at age 51 without taking a physical. Not sure if the policy is any good. My only epxerience -- in looking for a nursing home for a loved one -- is that the homes like to hear that a person has this insurance. Admissions types really brightened up when they heard my friend had the coverage; most people still don't.
It depends on how old you are: If you think you have another 20 years before you would possibly need it, then you are better off just socking the money away in the stock market.
My mother who is 87, got Long Term Care Ins. at 80 yrs old. She pays $6,100 a year. Of course, the younger you are when you get it, the cheaper it is. My brother and I use the interest she makes off of a CD to pay for it. It gives her and us a little peace of mind.
The good thing with hers is, say she breaks a leg and needs to go to a care facility for 2 months, she can and then go back home. I believe she gets 6 or 7 years (total) of care. Be it all at once or in and out. It is a gamble. I hope I made myself clear.
BFLR = Bump for later reading.
GE has a good plan. It is a very good thing, if you plan for the long term and have assets to protect.
I searched before I asked the same question and found you. You havnt posted since Nov. I found this link through my military Tricare and have started doing other search thru friends. Let me know if you settled your search. I will now read the rest of the posts.
--
Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program Home Page--
http://www.opm.gov/insure/ltc/index.asp
Good question. We got ours through AARP in early 50's it was better then our state policy that we could pick up after retirement. We got the waiting period of 30 days...cheaper policies have a waiting period of 90 days. It means that you would have to pickup he cost for those periods of time before it kicks in....ours is automatically deducted monthly from our account and like others say the younger you are the cheaper the policy. Who knows if you will need it, but if you do you have that cushion...this kind of care can put you in the poor house quickly if you don't have it. Go to Suzie Orman's site and see what she has to say on the subject. Good luck.