Donna, we did not apply for Medicaid because we had some interest bearing
savings, so we would not have qualified.  We had not purchaed the most
expensive, so I had a very small amount to pay each month besides what the
insurance paid.  It sure did make a difference to have it though.
Gwen

I am a medical social worker so what I say about long-term care insurance
comes from that perspective:

first -- there is generally a 100 day exclusion -- for home care or for
nursing home care -- under the guise that Medicare will pay for the first
100 days -- that's wrong, Medicare pays for 100 days of care if there is an
acute-care need (open wounds, things like that) or a rehab need (rehab from
a stroke or hip fracture or hip replacement) other than those things,
Medicare doesn't cover much.  Anything that will be considered "custodial
care" is not covered by Medicare and if you are in a NH for rehab and get to
the point where you are no longer making rehab progress, Medicare is done
paying whether the 100 days are up or not.

second -- Long term care policies often require that you hire a ceritified
aide or someone through an agency -- in Buffalo NY that will run somewhere
between $15 and $20 per hour -- you must pay and the insurance company
reimburses you up to the daily amount that the policy stipulates -- so if
the policy stipulates $75 per day of coverage at $15 per hour, that's 7
hours of care at $15 per hour and less than 4 hours of care at $20 per
hour -- who covers the rest of the hours??  And if you live somewhere that
the economy is better and the per hour cost is higher, then what?  Most
policies won't allow you to hire private duty people that you know --  
although that has changed with a couple of insurers -- but they still have
to be certified not just someone you know.

third -- does the person who will be handling the paperwork to hire the
caregivers understand all this paperwork?  I can't tell you how many times
the person who has to hire the caregivers can't understand what they have to
do in order to get reimbursed.

In the last 2 or 3 years I have seen 4 or 5 people who spent $35,000 or more
paying the premiums on these policies and then never receiving any benefits
because they died within the 100 day elimination period.  Many financial
planners will now recommend that if you have the money to spend on a Long
Term Care policy (which is more expensive the older you are), you are better
off to put that money away and be able to spend it on whatever care you
need, not the care the insurance companies want you to have.

HTH
Susan