Before even looking into the rate for insurance, you want to check for the long term care rate, meaning the price that is actually going to be charged for a nursing home, assisted living facility, or in home service. Of course, these prices are subject to change, so you need to consider that as you're checking. No rate is ever going to stay the same from year to year, but if you are at least aware of the rate that is charged today, you can adjust accordingly to be sure that you are purchasing a long term care insurance policy that is going to meet the future needs. After all, a policy that pays a maximum of $4,500 per month for long term care isn't going to be much help if the rate goes up to $5,000 by the time you need to use it. That means someone will have to come up with the other $500, and with today's economy, that might be difficult for other family members to be able to do.
Once you have determined the current long-term care rate, question the facility concerning the future. They should be able to review their past rates and give you an idea about the future costs, if only based on what has happened in the past. It's likely a percentage per annum, so you can use that to determine what the future cost might be. If you choose an insurance company that only writes policies for long-term care, they may know the answer to this by knowing where you live. However, I would do checking on your own as well just to ascertain that the information you have been given is current and factual based on your area. You don't want to purchase a policy that won't cover the future cost of long-term care in your area when a phone call or visit will prevent that from happening.
Additionally, the rate you will be charged for long term care insurance is going to vary in accordance to the amount of coverage that you need and the type of service you need: in home, nursing home, assisted living. The higher the amount that is needed to cover your care, the higher the premium rate is going to be for the policy. Since there is no way to determine prior to the event what type of care is going to be needed, you will have to base it on full-time nursing facility care to assure that you have enough coverage. It is certainly better to pay that $95 or so per month for the coverage and not need it than it is to not have the coverage and find that your Medicare doesn't cover even half the cost of your stay.
