What Percent Of The Population Has Long Term Care Insurance? 
Short answer : About 8 % Long answer : It 's hard to say exactly how many people own some type of policy that covers paying the costs of long term care - should one qualify for it - because there are many types of insurance policies that are not just `` stand-alone '' long-term care policies , but plans of insurance that include being able to use a percentage of other plan benefits for paying long-term care costs :1 . Stand-alone long-term care insurance covers only long-term care costs . It has no cash value . When a policy owner dies , coverage either lapses or stops paying benefits . It is not transferable . It can not be bought or sold on a secondary market . This type of long-term care insurance is sometimes referred to as `` traditional '' long-term care insurance , as well . It is the type of coverage that is most often associated with the `` percentage of Americans that own their own long-term care insurance '' .2 . Hybrid long-term care contracts consist of having long-term coverage and a life insurance policy that guarantees to at least return the full premium paid into the policy to the insured 's designated beneficiary . Usually , these are single-premium contracts , but some have options to also pay over a specified period of time , such as 5 - or 10-years .3 . Linked life + long-term care policies are basically a traditional permanent life insurance contract -LRB- Whole Life or Universal Life , including the Variable or Indexed type -RRB- . If a person qualifies for long-term care and they have the long-term care rider on their life policy , they may apply to the insurance company to advance or accelerate the face value of the policy -LRB- death benefit -RRB- to pay for the costs of care . There are various limitations on how much can be advanced at a time . If the face value of the life contract is completely advanced for long-term care , there is usually a residual death benefit of $ 5,000 - $ 10,000.4 . The latest addition to life insurance product lines are policies offering `` living benefits '' , one of which is very similar to the linked-life policy . In fact , the only difference is that a medical professional has to state in writing that the insured is not likely to recover from the condition that qualifies for long-term care benefits . -LRB- True long-term care insurance does not require that . -RRB- This type of living benefit is most often referred to as `` chronic care '' or `` extended care '' . Annuities may also have special considerations for paying out portions of the account value for long-term care costs.The point is , people who own life insurance or annuity contracts with long-term care accommodations are not typically included in with the 8 % that own traditional long-term care . So , the real percentage of those that have made some type of insurance purchase to offset long-term care costs is greater than 8 % . I doubt , however , that the total percentage of Americans that own any of the above-described types of policies would exceed 20 % at this time . 