Originally Posted by
YAKflyer
Hopefully you won't need a nursing home for a very long time if ever. Because the lifespan once one goes into fully time nursing is very short (the median length of stay in a nursing home before death is five months), insurance is available at somewhat reasonable prices if you are willing to accept an exclusion clause that limits the insurance company's exposure to begin after 90 days. The longer the exclusion the lower the rates. You can protect yourself from a catastrophic bill if you're willing to accept the cost of the first three months or more.
Medicare pays for 90 days after a hospital. Otherwise zero.
I have been told half of all elderly need time in a nursing home, 4 years is a pretty good high end probability. My mom was at 4.5 years.
Be sure to look carefully at having a Home Health Aide rider. My folks had 2 year, paid for 6 hours a day, Max. They used 5 years, until my dad passed away. Initially 4 hours a day. Increased to 24/7.
At that point, a nursing home room for one is cheaper.
My folks went through all their assets, which never was much. I paid for my mother to be in a private room. I was out of pocket $250,000 beyond policy and income. I was glad to do that. YMMV