Resource Directory Results

Premiums

What affects your premium?

• Age: Age is an important factor in long-term care insurance premiums. The older you are when you buy the policy, the higher your premiums will be.
  • Once you've bought the policy, the premiums on most policies do not automatically increase because you get older.
  • If you buy at age 65, you'll always pay the same price as new customers who are 65 years old.
  • But, it's likely the company will raise the rates for all customers as costs increase.
• Benefit: How much will the policy pay? Most policies define benefits in terms of the maximum daily benefits and offer numerous choices (e.g. $50, $90, or $120 per day).
• Inflation Protection and Nonforfeiture of Benefits: These 2 features can make a big difference in LTC insurance premiums.
• Elimination Period: The premium for a company's policy with a 100-day elimination period is more affordable than the same policy with a shorter period. Of course, the 100-day elimination period means you'll be paying for the first 100 days of care yourself. At today's LTC prices, that could cost you more than $15,000. And if you leave the nursing home within 100 days, such a policy pays nothing.
• Benefit Period: The "benefit period" tells you how long the policy will pay daily benefits.
  • The benefit period can be as short as one year or as long as "lifetime" (unlimited).
  • Increasing a policy's benefit period will also increase its price.