Medicare does not cover custodial care confinements and 98% of the cost is paid for by individuals like yourself.

The plain fact is only the very poor or the very rich can afford to be without nursing home insurance. This is because the average cost of a nursing home stay can run as high as $60,000 each year! While the very poor have Medicaid, where one must give up their life long possessions to obtain it, and the very rich are able to sustain those kinds of costs, the vast majority of middle class Americans are left without protection of any kind.

Think of it this way. When you are making a living and supporting your family, you have life insurance to help replace your income and continue its benefits to your family if something happens to you. When you buy Long Term Care (Nursing Home) Insurance, you are "insuring your savings" so that if you go to the nursing home, the insurance will offset its costs and your savings will remain intact for the benefit of your spouse and children. In other words, by investing a portion of the interest of those same savings in nursing home protection, you can take steps to preserve your capital for the future safety and well being of your heirs.

While the average cost of a year in the nursing home can easily exceed $40,000, it is easy to see how a prolonged stay of one or more years could represent a catastrophic loss to your lifelong savings. Because Medicare does nothing to protect you from the cost of custodial care confinements, you should be thinking about obtaining long term care nursing home insurance if your assets, exclusive of your homestead, are $20,000 or more. The greater your assets, the greater your need for this insurance becomes.

There are many policies available in the marketplace today, but of course, you want to know what’s best to look for. Here are some criteria you should insist upon when you purchase nursing home insurance coverage for your spouse and yourself....

• Provides you up to $200 a day while confined in a nursing home.
• Covers you for Custodial and Intermediate care as well as so-called Skilled care.
• No prior hospitalization requirement to obtain nursing home benefits.

• Look into optional "inflation guard" benefits which increase your total coverage by 5% on each anniversary of your coverage.

• Offers lifetime benefits, although you may want to reduce your premium cost by purchasing a policy having a lesser benefit period.
• Provides home health care benefits. But be aware, policies that offer this benefit without having a prior nursing home requirement, cost twice as much. Here the money could be better spent for coverage in the nursing home where your real risk of loss is greatest.
• Ask for the A.M. Best rating on the insurance company.
• Insist on a rating of "A" or better which is an indication of above-average financial strength and operating performance.
• Compare cost, but insist on quality coverage.

Obviously, the ideal time to purchase a nursing home policy would be the day before you go into the nursing home but, as you know, things aren’t that simple. You must apply for this coverage when you are in good health. The younger you are when you purchase nursing home insurance, the lower your premium will be for the rest of your life.

Remember, also, that you must also qualify for this insurance, that is, give medical evidence to the insurance company that you meet the company’s underwriting requirements for Long Term Care insurance. Generally, the younger you are when you apply, the better your chance of acceptance.

To summarize, none of us wants to be forced to accept a lesser standard of living because of a nursing home confinement of a loved one. Nor do we want our loved ones to suffer financial hardship because of our own confinement. If you have assets that you want to protect, you should consider long-term care nursing home insurance to protect those assets.