In this brief WSJ article by Glenn Ruffenach, it mentions some the discouraging news and things to be aware of when choosing a Long Term Care Insurance policy. Although what he didn't mention in the article is that there are some creative alternatives for traditional Long Term Care insurance that many people don't know about or bother to research. Some of the newer combo type life insurance policies can include Long Term Care Riders that provide a "fixed" premium that cannot increase throughout the entire policy, unlike traditional Long Term Care Insurance which can increase, and most likely will increase your premium payments over time. With this combo type policy, some optional policy riders can include inflation protection. Some combo type policies also allow you the option to cover “both” spouses in the same policy. The policy premiums can even be paid monthly or annually. (In other words, they do not have to be a "one-pay" premium for the entire policy premium in advance.) Some policy types can even guarantee to allow you to get all your premium money you paid into the policy returned to you at a later time down the road, if you decide you don't want the policy any longer. The gist is that the combo policy covers you while you are living, has a death benefit if you die for the people most important to you, and sometimes even allows you can get all your premium money paid into the policy back, if you choose not to continue the policy at a later date. So in other words, you don't have to lose all your money paid into the policy, like you would with a traditional Long Term Care Insurance Policy, if you never get to use the Long Term Care benefits!
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/encore/2013/03/11/how-to-choose-long-term-care-coverage/tab/print/
Contact me at (941) 404-5334 to discuss your long term care options and/or get you started on the right track of getting yourself insured.