LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE

Questions about Long-Term Care? (205) 578-2097

70% of people over the age of 65 will need long-term care. In Alabama, the median cost of assisted living is $53,100 per year and $100,010 per year for a semi-private room in a nursing home. Long-term care insurance can be a valuable asset to prepare you for that event. (Data Source: CareScout Cost of Care Survey, Alabama, 2025)

Question: What is the number one reason for bankruptcy in retirement?

Answer: Healthcare spending.

Does that sound like a scare tactic? You bet it does. You saved and worked over the course of your life to prepare for retirement only to see a chronic illness eat away at your nest egg. Here’s the deal. If your retirement planning isn’t covering the cost of healthcare in retirement, it’s time to act. There is a Proverb that states, “where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18) To say that another way, you have to have a plan and simply hoping for the best isn’t a plan. Here are the numbers, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the 2025 CareScout Cost of Care Survey:

• Nearly 70% of people turning 65 will need long-term care.
• About 20% will need it for more than five years.
• A semi-private nursing home room in Alabama costs about $274 per day, or $100,010 per year.
• Medicare does not pay for long-term custodial care. If help with daily living is the only care you need, you pay for it yourself.

Three years in a nursing home in Alabama works out to roughly $300,000 out of pocket, per person. Five years is over $500,000. That need increases exponentially with Alzheimer’s patients, who can be in great physical health while needing round-the-clock care. What’s your plan?

What is Long-term Care?

Here’s a good Google definition: Long-term care refers to a continuum of medical and social services designed to support the needs of people living with chronic health problems that affect their ability to perform everyday activities. Long-term care services include traditional medical services, social services, and housing.

Health professionals and insurance companies for that matter, view long-term care and chronic illness in the context of losing two or more of your activities of daily living or your ADLs for short. Those ADLs are:

• Bathing
• Dressing
• Self-feeding
• Being able to move from one place to another
• personal hygiene
• using the restroom on your own.

Long-term care refers to a continuum of medical and social services designed to support the needs of people living with chronic health problems that affect their ability to perform everyday activities.

A person that loses any two or more of those essential functions from an illness or through the natural process of aging is considered to be chronically ill. A chronically ill person will receive care typically from one of three options:

1. Some one in the family, i.e., a spouse or traditionally the oldest female.
2. If family care isn’t a good option and the chronic illness isn’t too severe then a health-care professional can administer care within your own home. Home care can include anything from medical treatments to something as simple as general cleaning and cooking.
3. If a person requires more care that can be given by either family or a healthcare professional/nurse, then some type of assisted living or nursing home is your best option.

Option 1 in the above scenario isn’t expensive to you but potentially damaging to your children as many times they have to rearrange their lives, quit a job or move closer to provide care. Options 2 and 3 are where you begin to incur the heavy out of pocket costs for care.

Options For Covering Long-term Care Expenses

There are generally four ways to plan for chronic illness costs:

1. Self-insure. If you’re relatively wealthy, you might choose to pay costs out of pocket. How much should you set aside? I recommend planning for at least three years of care, which is about $300,000 for a semi-private nursing home room in Alabama today, or about $160,000 for assisted living. Don’t panic if you don’t have that sitting in the bank. If you’re preparing early, $150,000 invested at a 6% return at age 55 grows to about $300,000 by age 67 (not adjusted for inflation, and care costs keep rising too).
2. The Hybrid Life insurance or annuity based long-term care. One of the biggest trends in the long-term care industry is life insurance or annuity based long-term care coverage. Many insurance companies are adding riders to permanent policies with the ability to cover chronic illness. Based on your age, you can take a portion of the death benefit and turn those into chronic illness dollars. It’s not necessarily any cheaper than the traditional, stand-alone long-term care policy. But there are advantages in combining the two for financial planning purposes as you now have the value of a tax-free death benefit through the life insurance. Annuity based coverage plays an important role for those who aren’t generally healthy enough for the stand-alone policy as annuities are easier to underwrite. The annuities can add income in retirement and give you the option to use those assets for chronic illness coverage. This can be an attractive option for those who don’t want to “lose” all the money paid in premiums in the event you never needed the policy.
3. The traditional, long-term care insurance policy. If you do not have enough assets for an annuity to make sense, and you’re still relatively healthy, long-term care insurance can be a great option for you. The thing I like about the traditional policy is that it’s built to suit your need or fit your budget. If the premium is more than you want to pay, the benefit, benefit period (length of coverage), elimination period and inflation protection can all be adjusted to fit your need. So for many, the traditional long-term care insurance policy is still the best fit for planning.
4. Medicaid. Medicaid pays for long-term care for people who can no longer afford it, but the bar is low. In Alabama, a single person generally must have $2,000 or less in countable assets to qualify for nursing home Medicaid, and the state reviews any gifts or transfers you made in the 60 months before you apply. Your home and one car are usually excluded, but most savings must be spent first. You also have less say in where and how you receive care. If you’re seriously considering going in the Medicaid direction, an elder care attorney is going to be a must!

Best Practices For Preparing For Chronic Illness:

1. Plan early. The longer you wait, the more limited your options. Our step-by-step guide to buying long-term care insurance walks through the process.
2. If you decide to go the traditional, long-term care insurance policy route, selecting the right carrier for you will be the most important part of the process. There has been an enormous amount of upheaval in the long-term care insurance market. Due to increased and unforeseen cost, many carriers have made the decision to get out of the business altogether. Many more insurance companies are taking huge losses in their LTC book of business which will lead to even more upheaval. On top of the upheaval, the carriers that did not properly price their LTC products years ago are having to frequently come back to each state and ask for rate increases. So picking the cheapest carrier with a bad history of rate increases can end up costing you much more over the life of the policy. Having said that, there are still excellent carriers to choose from. An independent agent that represents the best carriers in the market can find the best coverage and carrier for you.
3. Think long-term in your planning rather than focusing on a premium today. Depending on your age or your health, premiums can be expensive. But consider the cost of needing an in-home nurse or an assisted living facility and that expensive premium may well protect your assets as well as those you love.
4. Between the ages of 50-65 is generally the recommended age to start shopping for LTC. But if you have a family history of Alzheimer’s or another debilitating disease, it may be in your best interest to start even earlier.
5. For many, waiting until age 60 may be too late. Remember that your premiums are directly related to your health which for many isn’t a reality in their sixties.

Why Choose Us For Your Long Term Care Insurance?

How We Compare Long-Term Care Options for Birmingham Families

Assurance Financial Solutions is an independent agency in Birmingham, AL, led by Sam Price. We don’t work for one insurance company. We compare traditional long-term care policies, hybrid life/LTC policies, and annuity-based options across multiple carriers, then show you side by side which designs fit your goals and your budget.

To build an accurate comparison, it helps to have:

• Your age and your spouse’s or partner’s age, if you’re buying together
• Your health history and current medications
• What you want to protect: retirement income, your home, savings, or an inheritance
• A monthly or annual premium you’d be comfortable paying long term, or savings you’d consider repositioning
• Any existing life insurance, annuities, or long-term care policies

From there, we narrow the options to the carriers most likely to approve you at a good rating, explain the tradeoffs in plain language, and help you apply once. Meetings are available in person in Birmingham or virtually anywhere in Alabama. Call (205) 578-2097 or contact us to start.

Before we talk, you may find these guides helpful: how to buy long-term care insurance, step by step, and hybrid vs. traditional long-term care and how each protects your assets.

Reviewed by Sam Price, independent agent and founder of Assurance Financial Solutions in Birmingham, AL. Last updated November 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find an independent long-term care insurance agent in Birmingham?

Look for an agent who isn’t tied to one company and who compares traditional, hybrid, and annuity-based long-term care options across multiple carriers. Assurance Financial Solutions is an independent agency in Birmingham that focuses only on life, disability, long-term care, and annuities. A comparison is free, and you can meet in person or virtually.

When should I buy long-term care insurance?

Most people get the best combination of pricing and approval odds by applying in their 50s or early 60s, while they’re still healthy. Premiums rise with age, and a health change can make coverage harder to qualify for, so earlier is generally better if you’re already considering it.

How much does long-term care insurance cost?

Cost depends on your age, health, and how much coverage you choose, so there’s no single answer. Because we work with multiple carriers, we can compare options and find coverage that fits your budget rather than quoting a single company’s rate.

Does Medicare cover long-term care?

Generally, no. Medicare covers short-term skilled nursing or rehab care after a hospital stay, but it doesn’t cover ongoing custodial care like help with daily activities, which is what most long-term care insurance is designed to cover.

What’s the difference between long-term care insurance and a hybrid life/LTC policy?

Traditional long-term care insurance is “use it or lose it” — if you never need care, you don’t get money back. Hybrid policies combine life insurance with long-term care benefits, so if you don’t use the LTC benefit, your beneficiaries still receive a death benefit.

Can I still get long-term care insurance if I have a health condition?

It depends on the condition and severity, but having a health condition doesn’t automatically rule you out. Because we work across multiple carriers with different underwriting guidelines, we can often find options even when one company would decline coverage.

Who are the best long-term care insurance providers in Birmingham?

There isn’t a single “best” provider, the right carrier depends on your age, health, and whether you want a standalone LTC policy or a hybrid life/annuity product with an LTC rider. As a Birmingham agency focused exclusively on life, disability, and long-term care insurance, not home, auto, or commercial lines, we compare options across multiple carriers for your specific situation rather than representing just one company.

How does long-term care insurance help protect retirement assets?

Without coverage, extended care costs are typically paid out of pocket, from savings, investments, or home equity. A long-term care policy or rider shifts some or all of that cost to an insurance carrier in exchange for a premium, which helps keep your retirement income and principal intact for their intended purpose.

Is there a cost to get a long-term care comparison from AFS?

No. A consultation and comparison is free and comes with no obligation to purchase.

Can I use an annuity to pay for long-term care?

Yes, and it’s often the route for people who can’t qualify medically for a standalone policy. Annuity-based long-term care coverage is easier to underwrite, and some contracts let you access the value for chronic-illness costs while providing retirement income if you never need care. We compare both annuity providers in Birmingham and traditional carriers so you can see the trade-offs side by side. For retirement income on its own, see our guaranteed lifetime income guide.

How do I plan ahead for long-term care costs as I near retirement?

Start by estimating what care would cost where you live. In Alabama, that’s about $53,100 a year for assisted living and $100,010 for a nursing home. Then decide how much of that risk you can cover from savings and how much to insure. Your 50s and early 60s are the sweet spot for buying coverage, because premiums are lower and you’re more likely to qualify medically. See our step-by-step guide to buying long-term care insurance.

Can I get long-term care coverage on a budget?

Yes. A policy doesn’t have to cover every dollar of care to be worth having. You can lower the premium by choosing a smaller daily benefit, a shorter benefit period, a longer elimination period, or a different inflation option. Even partial coverage can keep a care event from draining your retirement savings. Because we compare multiple carriers, we can find the coverage that fits the budget you set.

How can I protect my family’s assets from long-term care costs?

The main options are a traditional long-term care policy, a hybrid life insurance or annuity policy with long-term care benefits, or setting aside dedicated savings. Each one shifts some of the cost away from your retirement accounts and home equity. If you’re married, planning also protects the spouse who stays at home. Waiting until care is needed usually leaves Medicaid as the only option, and that requires spending most of your assets first. Compare the approaches in Hybrid vs. Traditional LTC.