But if you’re like many Americans, you haven’t thought much about nursing-home care – even though a long stay, costing $70,000 a year or more, could wipe out both your assets and retirement plans. For some people, buying long-term care insurance is a way to keep that from happening. It also provides the security of knowing care will be there if needed.

One reason the demand for long-term care has increased is because people are living longer than they ever have before. Also, families are geographically scattered; employment and educational opportunities, among other things, have spread families from coast to coast. Time, travel expenses, and other responsibilities make it nearly impossible to provide the care older family members need. In addition, the primary caregivers in most families are women, and today more women work outside the home. Finally, grown children are unable to care for their aging parents because they, too, are often in need of some degree of assistance.

Buying long-term care insurance isn’t an easy decision, however. No two long-term care policies are alike. Some policies offer comprehensive benefits, paying for services provided in nursing facilities, in your home or in various community settings. Others offer coverage only for nursing-home services.

Unless you’re careful, you can buy a policy that doesn’t cover the type of care you may need, such as home care. You can buy too much coverage, or too little. Long-term care can be expensive. The cost depends on the amount and type of care you need and where you get it. As mentioned above, an average cost for nursing-home care could be as high as $70,000 or more.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 gives some federal income tax advantages to people who buy certain long-term care insurance policies. These policies are called Qualified Contracts. If you have a qualified long-term care policy, and you itemize your deductions, you may be able to deduct part or all of the premium you pay for the policy.

New York State has been authorized to establish a Partnership for Long-Term Care program designed to assist the residents of New York in planning for the cost of long-term care. This program, funded in part by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, promotes the availability of Partnership-approved, long-term care insurance policies issued only by participating insurers to residents of New York State. The goal of the Partnership is financial independence for consumers through shared responsibility. This means that New York State will share with you in planning for LTC expenses. By participating in the Partnership program, NYS residents are eligible to apply for Medicaid without first having to deplete assets.