The price of planning for old age keeps climbing.
Long-term care insurance, the policy that helps cover nursing homes, assisted living, and in-home aides, has been getting more expensive for years.
Unlike health insurance, long-term care coverage isn't something most people shop for until they're in their 50s or 60s.
That's exactly when premiums are highest.
A healthy 60-year-old couple can now expect to pay well over $3,000 a year combined for a modest policy, according to industry cost surveys.
A single 60-year-old man might pay around $1,000 to $1,500 annually, while a woman the same age often pays significantly more, because women tend to live longer and file more claims.
A 65-year-old couple could face $4,000 or more per year for the same coverage.
Buy in your mid-50s, and you might cut that bill by a third or more.
The math rewards people who plan early, but it also punishes anyone who waits until a health scare forces their hand.
Insurers badly misjudged how long policyholders would live and how much care would cost when they wrote policies decades ago.
Many carriers exited the market entirely.
The ones that stayed raised rates, sometimes by double digits in a single year.
In several states, regulators have approved repeated increases on existing policies, meaning people who bought coverage years ago are now paying far more than they expected.
Meanwhile, the care itself isn't getting cheaper.
A private room in a nursing home can run $100,000 or more per year in many states.
Assisted living averages around $60,000 annually, and home health aides cost roughly $30 an hour.
Medicare generally doesn't cover long-term custodial care, and Medicaid only kicks in after you've spent down most of your assets.
That gap is exactly what these policies are meant to fill.
First, don't assume you need the most expensive policy.
Shorter benefit periods, like two or three years instead of five, can cut premiums substantially.
Second, compare a traditional policy against a hybrid life insurance product that includes a long-term care rider.
Hybrids cost more upfront but lock in your rate and pay out something even if you never need care.
Third, check whether your state offers a partnership program, which lets you protect some assets from Medicaid while still qualifying for benefits.
And before you sign anything, ask about rate-increase history.
A carrier that has raised premiums repeatedly is a red flag, not a bargain.
One more practical move: look at what your employer offers.
Some companies now provide group long-term care coverage at lower rates than the individual market.
It's not free, but it can be meaningfully cheaper, and you can often keep the policy after you leave the job.
The bottom line: long-term care insurance isn't for everyone, and for some people the premiums simply aren't worth it.
But going in blind is the most expensive choice of all.
Get quotes from at least three carriers, read the fine print on rate increases, and decide while you're still healthy enough to qualify. **Our take:** The best time to at least look at long-term care coverage is years before you think you need it, because the price only goes one direction.
Final Thoughts
If the premiums genuinely don't fit your budget, a savings earmarked for care is a reasonable fallback—but do the math now, not in a crisis.