Several factors affect the cost of long-term care insurance, including: Type of services covered (care at home or in a facility) Amount of daily, weekly, or monthly benefit Length of waiting period for benefits to begin (also known as the elimination period) Duration of coverage Other factors may affect the price of a policy, such as whether it has inflation protection or a nonforfeiture clause, which provides some level of benefits for a period of time if you cancel your policy. The age you purchase a policy also affects its cost: the younger you are, the lower the cost. A 40-year old pays far less than what a 60-year old pays for long-term care insurance: $950 vs. $2045 in premiums annually. Once a policy is purchased, premiums cannot be increased because of age. Premiums can only be raised if the increase applies to a whole group of insureds. In general, the cost of premiums is less than the cost of long-term care services. A 45-year old woman today could pay about $1140 a year for a long-term care policy. By age 85, if she enters a nursing home, she will have paid about $44,000 in premiums--far less than the nearly $220,000 that a one-year stay in a nursing home will likely cost in 40 years.