If you expect to maintain your LTCI policy for more than a few years, you should consider adding inflation protection. There are two ways to do this. You can purchase an automatic inflation protection provision which increases the daily benefit rate each year. The latter approach will usually be less expensive initially, but will also provide less protection against inflation and will be more difficult to implement if you become disabled or inattentive to your health care needs in the future. The future cost of increases in coverage may actually be greater than purchasing full inflation protection at the inception of the policy.
Most individuals hope and expect to receive any long term care in their homes.
Early LTCI policies did not provide for home care benefits, or limited them to half or less of the daily benefit rate for nursing home care. This may make a particular policy more attractive to a prospective buyer. The policy must require that the beneficiary's condition is likely to continue for at least ninety days. Although federal law expressly provides for the deductibility of LTCI premiums, they are grouped together with other medical expenses and treated as a single deductible item. This is particularly true since most taxpayers with substantial medical expenses other than LTCI premiums may find it difficult to qualify for LTCI coverage.