I got it a couple years ago - I'm 54 now. It was offered through Prudential with an open enrollment through my employer. Employer does not pay for it but I took advantage of the open enrollment as I don't know that I'd qualify otherwise. It's a decent plan though not over the top - currently about $900 per year. Both DH and I did a lot to help our parents in their later years and since we have no kids there will be none of that if we live to be old. We'll be paying for help. DH's mother was in a nursing home for 11 years after suffering several mini strokes and his grandmother was in for 20 years after suffering a massive stroke. My grandmother was also in for many years. I hope I never end up there but if I do I'd like to somehow be able to pay for it myself and not end up being covered by taxpayers. My FIL paid for MIL - had LTC insurance for the first few years then self funded. I admired their ability to do that and would hope to be able to do the same.

I wish I knew more about this topic myself so I can't argue either way - but something in my gut says your financial planner is giving you good advice to be cautious. I googled - explain long term care insurance - and the 4th. article from the bottom of the first page "Avoiding Fraud When Buying Long Term Care Insurance" might have just the kind of information you're looking for.

It is true that most of the LTC policies purchased in the early 1990's were "nursing home only policies." However, since the federal government created standards for LTC insurance, over 95% of the long-term care policies purchased pay benefits for care received at home, as well as assisted living facilities and nursing homes. Depending upon the state in which you live, there are policies that have premiums that are guaranteed to never go up. Many of these policies can also refund your premium if you never need to make a claim. Generally, you should NOT purchase a LTC insurance policy that is linked to "universal life insurance". Those policies can lapse as you age, leaving you with no coverage at all.

Like Jim_1, we evaluated our risk profile for morbidity and decided on buying it. We have the equivalent of "Cadillac" LTCi (I guess that might be Mercedes-Benz or Bentley, these days, lol), purchased through the state pension fund which polices the LTC carriers very strictly. It's costly. But we knew that going in. I'd worked in insurance for almost 20 yrs and still have friends in the industry, including corporate actuaries. I told DH that the original pricing was too low and we should be ready to budget for premium increases in the future. Those increases have happened, and fortunately we're still able to afford the premiums. We have no intention of letting them go. Our morbidity risk is still high. In 2013 we moved my MIL to a wonderful full-care senior facility. She had early dementia but was fine with a regular daily routine. She was a sociable sort but shy about making friends on her own, so the facility was great for her. She was age 85 when she moved in, and sure she was still "too young" for this place. Imagine her shock when she was seated at a dining table with three other residents, and she was the YOUNGEST. One of her new companions was 100 yrs old and had been living in the facility for 30 years! Because MIL needed to have enough $$$ to afford Memory Care as she declined, we were and still are, conversant with what facilities charge for Skilled Nursing and Memory Care in our area. Interestingly, when we were researching facilities for MIL, there was little difference in the Asst. Living monthly rents, although costs for services varied, between the for-profit and non-profit facilities. But when looking into SN and MC units, the difference was substantial, to the tune of more than $3K/monthly. It had nothing to do with the quality of care; the non-profit we selected for MIL was one of the more reasonable ones yet is rated 3rd in the state. In 2015, the cost for SN/MC at this facility was $8500/mo. You need to remember although this cost is inclusive of all medical services, personal items and some extras deemed non-essential are NOT provided by any facility we interviewed. Such items, for increased comfort or emotional support, are the responsibility of the resident or resident's family, so that is an additional cost. It should also be noted that all the facilities we interviewed did not accept Medicaid patients at all as initial residents. All of the non-profits and a couple of the for-profits said their policy was to apply for Medicaid for residents who eventually ran out of funds (helping defray those SN/MC costs is one of the major expenses in a facility's General Budget). Some of the for-profits, however, said if a resident ran out of funds, they were asked to leave. These facilities would contact the state to arrange for a transfer to a Medicaid facility that would accept the resident: no choice of where to go, btw. As pointed out above, if you think there is any risk of needing Medicaid, it would be wise to find out the laws in your state, AND STAY UP TO DATE ON THEM. Medicaid is 50% federally funded and is always dependent upon the goodwill of Congress for its funding. Currently 80% of the U.S. elderly in SN and MC facilities are being funded by Medicaid. HTH.