Illustration: Carey Sookocheff

AARP Resources: Long-Term Care Insurance

You can find many helpful hints on long-term care insurance at AARP's website, where a special Health and Long-Term Care section serves as a clearinghouse of information on:

• Access to health care and long-term care.
• Financing care, benefits, and services.
• Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance.

In particular, check out details on:

• Long-term care services and costs
• How long-term care policies work—and their average cost
• What you should know before you buy long-term care insurance
  Find out what long-term care insurance covers, what to look for in a policy, when you should buy one, and how much it costs.
• A simpler way to sort out long-term care insurance options in Indiana, New Jersey, and Wisconsin
  Because locating sources of long-term care can be difficult, these states have developed single point-of-entry systems, which provide long-term care information and assistance for persons of all incomes. This article tells you how to use the new systems.

Think you don't need these resources? Maybe you should take a peek anyway. After all, a recent AARP survey reveals that many Americans really don't know where the money for long-term care comes from—even though they believe they do. For example, 41 percent thought Medicare covers assisted-living care. It does not. (Click here for more information on the survey.)