For Individuals
Your guide to long-term care insurance.
Understand your options, know the real costs, and take the right steps — before a health event forces your hand.
What Is Long-Term Care?
Care that goes beyond what health insurance covers.
Long-term care refers to ongoing assistance with everyday activities — bathing, dressing, eating, moving around — due to a chronic illness, disability, or cognitive decline such as Alzheimer's disease.
These services can be delivered at home by a professional caregiver, in an assisted living community, or in a skilled nursing facility. The setting depends on your needs and preferences.
Standard health insurance and Medicare cover very little of this. Without a plan, the cost falls directly on your savings — or on your family.
Who Should Consider LTC Insurance?
Planning is most effective before you need it.
Adults between 50 and 65
This is the ideal window. You are likely still healthy enough to qualify for coverage, and premiums are significantly lower than if you wait until your late 60s or 70s.
People with retirement savings to protect
A single long-term care event can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Insurance transfers that risk so your nest egg stays intact for the life you planned.
Those who don't want to rely on family
Family caregiving is physically and emotionally demanding. Having a funded plan means your loved ones can be family — not full-time caregivers.
Anyone with a family history of chronic illness
If a parent or sibling experienced Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or other conditions requiring extended care, your own risk is elevated. Planning early is especially important.
Real Costs in Your Area
See what care actually costs near you.
The Genworth Cost of Care Survey is the most comprehensive annual study of long-term care costs across the United States. Current median annual costs for North and South Carolina are shown below.
Costs vary significantly by state and city. North Carolina's average nursing home cost exceeds $100,000 per year — and prices continue to rise.
Home Health Aide
Adult Day Health Care
Assisted Living (private, 1 BR)
Memory Care
Nursing Home (semi-private room)
Nursing Home (private room)
Figures are approximate median annual costs. Actual costs vary by location, provider, and level of care. Source: Genworth Cost of Care Survey.
How to Get Started
A simple process. A lifetime of protection.
Assess your situation
Consider your age, health, family history, retirement savings, and whether you have family nearby who could provide care. These factors shape what kind of coverage makes sense.
Understand your options
LTC insurance comes in several forms — traditional policies, hybrid life + LTC plans, and asset-based strategies. Each has different premium structures, benefits, and trade-offs.
Get a personalized quote
William will compare options from multiple top-rated carriers to find coverage that fits your health profile, budget, and goals — with no pressure and no obligation.
Apply while you qualify
LTC insurance is medically underwritten. The best time to apply is when you are in good health. Waiting until after a diagnosis can mean higher premiums — or no coverage at all.
Common Questions
Clearing up the most common misconceptions.
Medicare covers short-term skilled nursing care after a hospital stay — typically up to 100 days under strict conditions. It does not cover custodial care, which is the ongoing assistance most people need. Medicaid covers long-term care only after you have spent down nearly all of your assets.
Statistically, 70% of people over 65 will need some form of long-term care. Health today does not predict what happens at 80 or 85. Planning while you are healthy is exactly when coverage is most affordable and accessible.
The cost of a policy depends heavily on when you buy it. A 55-year-old in good health can often secure meaningful coverage for a few hundred dollars per month — far less than the cost of even a few months of care. Waiting makes premiums significantly higher.
Family members often want to help — but providing full-time care is physically exhausting, emotionally draining, and can derail careers and finances. A funded plan lets your family be present without bearing the full burden of caregiving.
Hybrid life + LTC policies address this directly. If you never use the LTC benefit, your beneficiaries receive a life insurance death benefit. You are not paying for something that disappears if you stay healthy.
Ready to explore your options?
A 30-minute conversation with William can help you understand what coverage might look like for your situation — at no cost and no obligation.
Or email William@CarolinasLTC.com