You must take note of some things when shopping for a long term care insurance policy if what you truly want is the best price/value. You can get it at a lower price and put yourself at risk while another buys it at an affordable price also but without lowering the benefits s/he enjoys. Following are factors to note if you are sure you desire the very best.

1

Make sure it's the right coverage: Long term care insurance policies and features differ quite much with various insurance companies. Don't assume that every long term care insurance carrier will cover the same kind of services and when they do have similar coverage yardsticks, make sure you know where those likeness stops.

Some give coverage for nursing home care, others cover custodial or personal care in a variety of settings such as assisted living, adult day care, and home health care. You may as well notice that some may provide a combination of these and probably other services. Like for every other insurance policy, you have to ensure that their policy terms include the level of coverage you really need.

2

Find out if this insurance company is licensed by your state to provide long term care insurance. After confirming if they are licensed in your state also check their standing. This is where institutions such as BBB, Standard & Poor's Insurance Rating Services and others are really useful.

This is advised because people who wind up receiving long term care will be in no physical or mental state to pursue an insurer that carry out its policy terms. And believe it or not, some dishonest insurance companies have been known to be involved in unethical practices because they understand a claimant is incapacitated.

3

Understand the terms on which they pay out benefits. How they pay per day for different situations is something you must give particular attention to. Find what they'll pay out to you per day, for instance, if you have to live in a nursing home. What do they pay out per day for assisted living? Do they have maximum lifetime limits? If so, are you sure of what they are? The necessity of understanding this can't be over flogged bearing in mind that what you have there is all you would be given.

4

Select the longest waiting period you are certain you can cope with most. For people who might not know what the waiting period is, it is the space of time a policy holder has to wait (from the day they begin to use long term care) before they start getting any benefits. Waiting periods could be any length of time from 1 to 180 days. The longer the waiting period, the lower the premiums an insured pays. As you make this decision, don't forget that this is the length of time you'll pay for long term care on your own.

5

Know for sure when your selected insurer sees a policy holder as eligible to receive benefits. Are there conditions that the insured must experience before a policy holder is considered eligible for the benefits in the policy? Is it, for example, once an insured can't complete daily routines without assistance?

6

How would you be protected if the cost of long term care doubles at the time you need it? Is there any provision that will ensure your benefits reflect the times? Be aware of the terms where such exists and don't buy from an insurer who does not offer this. An example of such a feature is an inflation adjustment provision which ensures that the benefits an individual is given down the road reflect the cost of long term care at the time.

7

Make certain your preferred insurer offers guaranteed renewal once you buy the policy. Folks sometimes grow so old or have mental deterioration and this makes insurers refuse to renew their policy. With this type of provision no insurance company can do that to you.

8

Make sure it has a non-forfeiture benefit. This ensures that you receive a reasonable percentage of your benefit if you allow your policy to lapse unintentionally or decide to cancel the contract.

9

You might save several hundreds or even a few thousand dollars by just getting quotes from not less than three insurance quotes sites. You can then conveniently save a lot by just choosing the lowest quote. And, it will take you just a total of 15 minutes.

(Some people give details that are not really true about themselves. That is NOT smart. It is NOT wise since the quotes you'll get this way will NOT be of any use to you).