The younger you are when you first buy a long term care insurance policy, the cheaper the premiums. A 50-year-old pays about $450-$585 in annual premiums; for a 60-year-old it runs $650-$1,070 each year; and for a 70-year-old its about $1,464-$2,191, according to the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension[1] . The premium doesn't automatically go up as you get older, but it can increase over the years, sometimes quite sharply.
A type of disability insurance, long-term care insurance covers the cost of daily care for someone (of any age) with an acute or long-term illness or disability. ConsumerReports.org gives an overview, pointing out that while it can be cheaper to buy this insurance at age 40, the average age of a person admitted to a nursing home is 83. That could mean 40 years of paying premiums before benefiting from the policy.
Discounts:
The Insurance Information Institute[2] offers tips for cutting premiums costs.
Shopping for long term care insurance:
The Consumer Law Page has a detailed guide for avoiding fraud when buying long term care insurance.
ConsumerReports.org charts the circumstances making this type of insurance a good idea and when it might be better to skip it.
Get a list of registered insurance companies from your state insurance commissioner. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners provides links to these state offices[4] and a way to search for financial details and complaint histories for specific companies.
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