Very good question. Our attorney put us on a path that I followed until I arrived at a company called Family Life Solutions, which was established years ago to help people get through the morass of applying for Long Term Care benefits. It was expensive ($7,500) but at that point I was totally incapable of taking it on myself—just too many major things to do, and my husband simply couldn’t help me. So I bit the bullet and used the company to whack through the bushes, and they did—very high level of success with others and with us. I hired them for a second year at $5,000, and they have continued to manage the process for me, but I have learned enough now to take it on from this point forward. Obviously, insurance companies are not in business to give money out, so the process of getting approval is long and complex. I probably could have managed it myself, but circumstances had overwhelmed me at that point, and I just didn’t have it in me to try. So I dipped into our limited resources to hire out the process, and in another year or so, we will have recouped the cost. Your premiums stop when you are approved for care, so that is a big help, and there are other financial benefits, as well. However, the bottom line for me is that we are getting the help we need for now, and that allows us to stay in our home. I don’t pretend to be an expert about this, but maybe I have helped you a little—hope so. Bette

We bought Long Term care insurance 20 or so years ago. At that time, it was pretty simple. Just an assurance that you were currently independent. The premiums keep going up, but it was a life server, or more exactly, a house saver when my husband developed Alzheimer’s. And so, he passed after 3 years in memory care. Because of the increasing premiums I am always tempted to discontinue mine when the annual bill comes in, but then say, “ah, no. Let’s pay it.”