First, consider whether you need long-term care insurance. If you expect to have an adequate stream of income now and in the future to cover nursing home costs, you may not need insurance. Think, too, about your family’s health history. If your relatives routinely live into their 90s and you expect to do likewise, you may be even more likely to eventually need long-term care. If you decide to shop for long-term care insurance, find out first if your employer offers a plan. Often such policies are available at rates lower than you could find on your own.
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Whether purchasing long-term care insurance on your own or through your employer, read a policy thoroughly before you buy. Make sure you understand all of the conditions covered, the exclusions and the premiums. Compare policies from at least three companies before you make a decision, and check the insurance company’s financial ability to pay future claims. Independent groups such as Fitch, Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, A.M. Best and Weiss publish the financial ratings of insurance companies. Their reports can be found in the reference sections of most public libraries.

The following checklist will help you compare long-term care policies:

				Policy A			Policy B			Policy C
1.	Does the policy cover the following levels of care:
	Nursing home care?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
	Assisted living?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
	Home health care?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
2.	What is the maximum daily benefit for Nursing home care?			_____			_____			_____
	Assisted living?			_____			_____			_____
	Home health care?			_____			_____			_____
3.	Are there limits on the amount the policy will pay during a lifetime?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
4.	What is the age restriction on buying a policy?			_____			_____			_____
5.	Does the policy have inflation protection?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
6.	Does the policy have limitations on preexisting conditions?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
7.	What is the waiting period?			_____			_____			_____
8.	Is Alzheimer's disease covered if it develops after the policy is purchased?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
9.	Does the policy have a limit on the length of coverage for each period of confinement?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
	What is the limit?			_____			_____			_____
10.	Is prior hospitalization required before benefits begin for Nursing home care?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
	Assisted living?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
	Home health care?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
11.	Is there a limit on the number of days for which benefits will be paid?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
	What is the limit?			_____			_____			_____
12.	Are premiums waived while benefits are being paid?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
13.	Is the policy guaranteed renewable?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
14.	Can the policy be canceled because of age or declining health?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
15.	Will you retain a level of coverage if you do cancel?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
16.	Do you have the right to return the policy within 30 days?			Yes No			Yes No			Yes No
17.	Monthly premiums			_____			_____			_____

Modern medicine has made it possible for many people to live extended, productive lives. Yet sooner or later, illness or accident may force each of us to face the need for long-term care. Planning now will put you in control, giving you security in the knowledge that the future is in your hands. Remember, most insurance policies contain exclusions, limitations, waiting periods, reductions of benefits and terms for keeping them in force.