What You Should Know

• A lot of life insurance companies offer long-term care options
• Long-term care insurance is too expensive for many policyholders, but there are other ways to pay for your long-term care
• With some long-term care insurance policies, you lose any money that you don't use in a facility

If you are purchasing life insurance, especially if you are near retirement age, you may be wondering whether your life insurance policy can help with any long-term care you may need in the future.

There are plenty of life insurance companies that allow long-term care withdrawals on an insurance policy. This can look different depending on the type of policy you have. But life insurance can help you pay for long-term care if you ever need it.

You may be able to find affordable long-term care life insurance, though many policyholders who decide against this type of coverage do so because it is too expensive.

You can look for long-term care life insurance quotes online and compare multiple companies to see which offers the best options to help you discover how much life insurance you need.

When you search for life insurance quotes online, you can use a quote tool that will help you compare multiple policies, so you don't have to compromise when it comes to coverage.

In fact, you can use our free quote tool above to find long-term care life insurance companies that work best for you.

Which life insurance companies offer long-term care insurance?

A lot of insurance companies offer different options for covering any long-term care needs in your future. But a few of the companies that are well-known for their long-term care insurance coverage include:

• New York Life
• Mutual of Omaha
• Lincoln Financial Group
• Pacific Life
• Brighthouse Financial
• Nationwide
• GoldenCare
• Northwestern Mutual

You certainly want to avoid the worst long-term care insurance companies, but researching life insurance companies online before you purchase a policy will help you do so.

As you search for life insurance that helps cover the cost of long-term care, you should also consider various alternatives to long-term care insurance.

For instance, some long-term care riders on life insurance policies pay a daily benefit. And there are other riders and annuities that may work better for you than a long-term care life insurance policy.

Who should not buy long-term care insurance?

While it may be a good idea for most people to consider long-term care coverage, there are a few people who do not need to purchase long-term care insurance.

If you are at a lower income level, it may not benefit you to purchase long-term care insurance. This is because you could qualify for Medicaid, which will pay for your long-term care in certain facilities.

When you qualify for Medicaid coverage, it does not make sense to purchase long-term care insurance because you would ultimately be saving the state money without saving any money yourself.

The other exception to purchasing some type of long-term care life insurance is if you have a good bit of money at your disposal. If you have enough money to treat long-term care as another monthly bill, then purchasing the coverage would ultimately not be necessary.

What happens to unused long-term care insurance?

If you purchase long-term care insurance but don't end up using it, there are a few things that may happen depending on the type of policy you purchased.

With a traditional long-term care insurance policy, your monthly rates have the potential to increase as you age. And if you end up not using your benefits, you could lose the money you invested.

There are other types of long-term care coverage that allow the rates you pay to be added—either in part or as a whole—to the death benefit of your policy if you end up not needing long-term care or not using the full benefits of your policy.

What happens will depend on the type of life insurance policy you purchase, so it's important to compare long-term care life insurance rates from multiple companies and examine each policy to choose what's best for you.

How much will I pay for long-term care insurance?

Your age, gender, and health status will help you answer the question, "how much does life insurance cost?". You can use a long-term care insurance calculator to help you determine how much to invest in a long-term care policy.

If you purchase a single-premium long-term care insurance policy, you will pay a large sum of money upfront, but you will not have to pay for long-term care coverage again.

In contrast, you could purchase a standard long-term care policy and pay a specific rate every month.

Your long-term care insurance rates are likely to increase as you get older, and if you apply for long-term care insurance when you're older than 65, you have a higher likelihood of being denied coverage altogether.

Specific long-term care insurance rates will be determined by a number of factors, including your age, gender, health status, and health history.

Another option would be to purchase a long-term care rider on your existing life insurance policy.

The cost of life insurance with a long-term care rider will vary from one company to the next, but this type of rider will allow you to use a portion of your death benefit every month in order to pay for the long-term care that you need.

Do I need long-term care insurance?

Evaluate your personal finances to decide whether you need long-term care coverage. If you make very little money, or if you make a great deal of money, you will not need to purchase anything to help with your long-term care.

But most people will benefit from considering different long-term care insurance options and making decisions based on their unique needs and the needs of their loved ones.

Before you buy long-term care life insurance, be sure to use our free quote tool below to compare rates from multiple companies at once.