The price of long-term care coverage keeps drifting upward, and the latest rate filings show the trend isn't slowing down.
For couples in their mid-50s, a policy that covers roughly $165,000 in future care benefits now runs about $3,800 to $4,200 a year combined, depending on the insurer and where you live.
Buy the same coverage at 65 and that number can jump 60% or more.
Insurers badly misjudged how long people would live and how much care would cost when they wrote policies in the 1990s and 2000s.
Now they're repricing to catch up, and current buyers absorb part of that correction.
Women pay more than men because they tend to file larger claims.
Couples get discounts, but only when both partners qualify.
Many older policies sold decades ago had lifetime benefits and 5% compound inflation riders — generous terms that turned out to be expensive.
Carriers have been raising premiums on those blocks of business for years, and some policyholders have faced increases of 50% to 100% in a single notice.
If you hold one of those older policies, don't panic-cancel it.
Compare the increase against what a new policy would cost you today at your current age, which is often worse.
What you'll actually pay depends on four levers: your age when you enroll, the daily benefit amount, how long the benefit lasts, and whether you add inflation protection.
A 60-year-old man buying a $150-a-day benefit for three years might pay around $1,700 a year.
A 60-year-old woman with the same terms could pay closer to $2,600.
Add a 3% inflation rider and both figures rise meaningfully.
Cheaper alternatives are getting more attention.
Hybrid policies — life insurance with a long-term care rider — let you pay a lump sum, often $100,000, and get care benefits if you need them or a death benefit if you don't.
They cost more upfront but the premium is locked, so there are no surprise increases.
Some employers offer group long-term care coverage at lower rates, though the benefit caps tend to be modest.
Before you buy anything, check these three things.
First, the insurer's financial strength rating from A.M.
Best or Moody's — you're buying a promise that may not be paid for 20 years.
Second, whether the policy pays for home care, not just nursing homes, since most people prefer to stay home.
Third, your state's rate stability rules, which vary widely and affect how big future increases can get.
Also worth noting: Medicare does not cover long-term custodial care, and Medicaid only kicks in after you've spent down most assets.
That gap is the entire reason this product exists.
If you have less than $75,000 in investable assets, the premiums may be hard to justify.
If you have more than $500,000, you may be able to self-insure and skip the policy altogether.
Our take: long-term care insurance still makes sense for a slice of Americans in the middle — enough assets to protect, not enough to absorb a $100,000-a-year care bill.
But the window to buy at a reasonable price is earlier than most people think.
Final Thoughts
Waiting until your late 60s rarely saves money; it just shrinks your options.