My understanding is that you can't get the policies once available in the past. Do know someone with advanced Parkinsons who's received around the clock care for 20+ years, at home, due to the LTC she signed up for back in the 1980s. But you cannot get that policy at all these days. She was lucky.

Our worry about these policies (and we have one) is that when we are much older we will no longer be able to afford the premiums.

Right now we pay 6K total/year ($500/month) for 3 years of care per person, 1/2 day in today's dollars.

I have a policy through Northwestern Mutual. Specifically picked Northwestern Mutual because it is always the highest rated insurance company and they have never had issues that you read about with other companies that mispriced policies, and then basically dropped out of the business leaving people hanging.

My policy has some features that also pay out if say you are in a car accident and need to go into a rehabilitation center (even at a youngish age...early 50s for me) for an extended period of time.

It is not just there for when I am old and in senior living/nursing care.

I believe there is a statistic that in fact once someone enters into care where LTC kicks in, they only live like 2-3 years on average.

I believe you can pick policies that pay indefinitely, or there are cheaper premium ones that only pay for like 3 years.

I have it because I did not want my only child to face the burden of paying for whatever resource intensive care I might need for who knows how long.

Those of you saying you would rather die may not have that option. Think of your relatives, who will have to figure out a solution if you cannot.

Anonymous wrote:
Not worth getting. We do not have it. Like another poster, we would prefer to succumb to whatever illness leaves us needing that kind of care. We have seen it and it's not a life we would want at any price.

Signed,
retired people in late 60's

My mom had a stroke in 2010. She can't walk, and needs help bathing, dressing, and eating. However, she is mentally "all there" and totally capable of interacting with her grandkids as well as socializing with people at her facility, reading, playing chess, etc. So, she's not "better off dead" but she can't live independently either. She has spent 160 months in assisted living at $3,000 to $5,000 per month (it increased over the years). Thank God she had LTC insurance. But you could also say she is the reason LTC insurance is no longer the good deal it used to be, because the company has paid out much more than they ever got from her in premiums.

I hope you have half a million set aside for this contingency if you don't have LTC insurance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Not worth getting. We do not have it. Like another poster, we would prefer to succumb to whatever illness leaves us needing that kind of care. We have seen it and it's not a life we would want at any price.

Signed,
retired people in late 60's

I don't understand these types of comments. NOBODY WANTS to go into dementia care facilities. But if you become too much for your 80 yr old spouse to care for 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week, THEY are going to put you in a facility, and you better have some $$$$$ to pay for it.

Are you suggesting that if you have dementia, you are going to take yourself out? If not, then you don't get to just decide that you are going to "succumb" to dementia or Parkinsons. Your relatives/spouse have to deal with your needs until you eventually "succumb" -- which may be 3-10 yrs. They may not be willing to change your diapers. They may prefer to put you in a facility where you can't wander out the door at 2 a.m. in the freezing cold winter. Gotta have $$$$$.

Yeah these "just OD me" posts are stupid and irresponsible. Your kids aren't going to smother you with a pillow or put you in a sht-tier state-run facility. They aren't going to provide at-home dementia care either. They are going to put you in a facility. That means it's on you to make sure you have money to pay for it.

Anonymous wrote:We were really surprised to find out that no particular nursing home is obligated to accept your LTC insurance. We were fortunate that when we suddenly needed to find a facility for our mom there was one available that took her insurance. If you think you might want to end up at a particular place some day make sure they take whatever your insurance is. Of course that could change.

In my mom's facility it's not like "regular" medical insurance where the company directly pays the provider. It goes through the patient (or in our case, me, since I do the paperwork for my mom). I submit the claim form to the insurance company every month, and all the facility does is verify my mom is there. Then the company pays my mom and she writes a check to the facility.

The facility did not care who the insurance provider was, all they cared about was that they got paid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, who do you trust that you can ask. For us, it's 2 close friends who are physicians, one physician who's a geriatric specialist, a friend who's an administrator of a nursing home. In our world, these friends don't have it. No decision or advice is perfect, but I'm going with advice from people I know.

Spouse is a VP in the LTC industry. Has always been responsible for payment issues (mainly when payment doesn’t happen). Knows everything about everything about who pays for what and how much. And I work in insurance. We don’t carry LTC insurance.

This is all I needed to read. Case closed.

I have a potentially award winning indie film in my head that opens up with an old man, let’s call him John Doe, getting out of bed and finding a note in his closet with a gun that says “kill John Doe today” and initially he freaks out and after a very painful 1.5 hours of not understanding, eventually he realizes it’s a note he wrote to himself the day before. He writes another note and, not really knowing what family he has left, walks well away from the house so as to not make a mess. Sits down by a pond at sunset and takes care of business.

If I ever get severe dementia, I hope I am John Doe. What a horrible existence.

Anonymous wrote:
Not worth getting. We do not have it. Like another poster, we would prefer to succumb to whatever illness leaves us needing that kind of care. We have seen it and it's not a life we would want at any price.

Signed,
retired people in late 60's

I don't understand these types of comments. NOBODY WANTS to go into dementia care facilities. But if you become too much for your 80 yr old spouse to care for 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week, THEY are going to put you in a facility, and you better have some $$$$$ to pay for it.

Are you suggesting that if you have dementia, you are going to take yourself out? If not, then you don't get to just decide that you are going to "succumb" to dementia or Parkinsons. Your relatives/spouse have to deal with your needs until you eventually "succumb" -- which may be 3-10 yrs. They may not be willing to change your diapers. They may prefer to put you in a facility where you can't wander out the door at 2 a.m. in the freezing cold winter. Gotta have $$$$$.

Not worth getting. We do not have it. Like another poster, we would prefer to succumb to whatever illness leaves us needing that kind of care. We have seen it and it's not a life we would want at any price.

Signed,
retired people in late 60's

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Np. Me neither, but that’s exactly what my FIL is doing. It’s my in-laws money, and fortunately they have enough. But not sure how long it will drag on and deplete my MIL’s nest egg. I bought a whole life policy for myself for peace of mind for my family. I’m at risk for a genetic disorder (haven’t tested for and the policy questionnaire did not ask about). The disease if it develops is horribly disabling and ultimately fatal. I didn’t want my kids to ever think I didn’t provide for my own care vs take from their future inheritance. I only bought a $300k policy. My father lived in another (low cost, but good care- his native place) country with the condition for nearly a decade, requiring major surgeries and all around home care. This would cover me if I did the same, but maybe not in the US.

tell me more about this. I'm insurance ignorant, for sure. How does a regular insurance policy work for a disabling condition?

It normally pays out at a percentage of your previous income. The one we have at work is 60%, I think.

Sounds like you’re talking about long term disability insurance. Sounds like PP is talking about life insurance (as a way of leaving something behind for your family if you self fund your long term care through savings - if there’s a cash value to your life insurance and you require Medicaid in your later years, it’s a plan that won’t work but if you don’t run out of money it’s an option). The thread is about long term care insurance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Np. Me neither, but that’s exactly what my FIL is doing. It’s my in-laws money, and fortunately they have enough. But not sure how long it will drag on and deplete my MIL’s nest egg. I bought a whole life policy for myself for peace of mind for my family. I’m at risk for a genetic disorder (haven’t tested for and the policy questionnaire did not ask about). The disease if it develops is horribly disabling and ultimately fatal. I didn’t want my kids to ever think I didn’t provide for my own care vs take from their future inheritance. I only bought a $300k policy. My father lived in another (low cost, but good care- his native place) country with the condition for nearly a decade, requiring major surgeries and all around home care. This would cover me if I did the same, but maybe not in the US.

tell me more about this. I'm insurance ignorant, for sure. How does a regular insurance policy work for a disabling condition?

It normally pays out at a percentage of your previous income. The one we have at work is 60%, I think.

Anonymous wrote:No, I plan to self insure. I also have no interest in wasting away in diapers in a $15,009 a month memory care unit. Just OD me.

Just had this discussion with some friends we all agree with you.

Anonymous wrote:Np. Me neither, but that’s exactly what my FIL is doing. It’s my in-laws money, and fortunately they have enough. But not sure how long it will drag on and deplete my MIL’s nest egg. I bought a whole life policy for myself for peace of mind for my family. I’m at risk for a genetic disorder (haven’t tested for and the policy questionnaire did not ask about). The disease if it develops is horribly disabling and ultimately fatal. I didn’t want my kids to ever think I didn’t provide for my own care vs take from their future inheritance. I only bought a $300k policy. My father lived in another (low cost, but good care- his native place) country with the condition for nearly a decade, requiring major surgeries and all around home care. This would cover me if I did the same, but maybe not in the US.

tell me more about this. I'm insurance ignorant, for sure. How does a regular insurance policy work for a disabling condition?