Best Nursing Home Insurance In 2026
Posted in Long Term Care last updated on December 7, 2026
Approximately 70% of people will need some kind of long term care, and they are millions of seniors in nursing homes currently.
With the baby boomer generation approaching retirement, many are wondering what the cost of an insurance policy to pay for nursing home costs would be.
Since Medicare does not cover nursing homes, this is an important decision.
This article covers approximate rates, ways to qualify, and what you can expect for nursing home insurance.
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Table Of Contents
- How Nursing Home Insurance Works
- How To Qualify
- Cost
- Insurance Providers
- Return of Premium/Death Benefit
- Tax Implications
- Alternatives
- When To Buy
How Nursing Home Insurance Works
Nursing home insurance is a long term care policy with tax free payouts like any other long term care policy.
It pays a certain amount of monthly death benefit to pay for the nursing home, or if you die early, a death benefit.
You can fund nursing home insurance policies through a single premium or monthly payments.
How To Qualify For Nursing Home Insurance
Nursing home insurance is a long term care policy, but there are many different kinds to choose from.
Some give a death benefit if you don’t use it and die early or suddenly, some give you monthly payments for life, some stop after a couple years.
However, all of them will have medical underwriting.
While they accept most people, they don’t accept critical health conditions such as…
- Cirrhosis
- Dementia/Alzheimer’s
- Receiving disability payments
- Wheelchair/Walker
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Oxygen use
Just to name a few.
Depending on the health conditions, you can easily qualify for a nursing home insurance/LTC policy without a medical exam. Some conditions do necessitate an exam, such as congestive heart failure, however.
If you are curious if you qualify, fill out our contact form and someone will be in touch.
Nursing Home Cost
The cost of a nursing home insurance policy varies considerably depending on the state but mainly the age and how much benefit you want to be paid out.
Also, some policies can be paid with a single premium from your retirement account, while some you pay to a certain age or certain amount of time.
Whether you have a single life or joint life policy to also cover your spouse also dictates the rate.
The table below shows some sample costs for the different options.
This will be for a 65 year old couple joint policy with a 4 year limit on benefits.
| Monthly Benefit To You | Single Premium | Monthly Pay to 95 |
|---|---|---|
| $2,000/month; $150,000 lifetime | $38,084 | $247/month |
| $3,000/month; $216,000 lifetime | $54,824 | $352/month |
| $5,000/month; $360,000 lifetime | $91,373 | $572/month |
Nursing home insurance for a 65 year old couple getting a $2,000/month benefit or $150,000 lifetime is $247/month. Prices may vary.
Note: 5 year pay and 10 year pay options are available as well.
Nursing Home Insurance Providers
We at Seniors Mutual work with over 30 insurance companies, and there are many companies in the nursing home insurance space for long term care costs.
As of the writing of this article, things are still changing in terms of rates and benefits fairly rapidly, so we can’t put a list of the “top” insurance companies.
Most of the articles out there showing the “best” companies from reputable websites simply don’t understand the market in my opinion.
I would recommend filling out our contact form to see which companies match what you’re looking for.
Nursing Home Insurance Return of Premium/Death Benefit
This section is for those who wonder “what if I never use my benefits and die early or want my money back?”
A very common and understandable question.
Now, you should know the above rates are without the return of premium, as that does decrease benefits somewhat, but does include a death benefit.
For example, on the above rates, for a single premium of $38,084 (from a retirement account) the death benefit is immediately $72,000.
My point is, if you die early they give you back everything and more with a tax free death benefit.
But what if you need the money back while still living, say 10 years later?
You can get the same benefits as above, but the single premium would increase to somewhere around $60,000 for a $3,000/month nursing home benefit.
You can structure a policy to give you back all of your money but it will cost you more of your retirement account.
Nursing Home Insurance Tax Implications
Like any long term care policy, the payout on nursing home insurance is completely tax free.
This can be substantial, especially if you have a policy that has no limited amount of years, and you end up using many times more in benefit than you paid in.
All of that growth is tax free!
Nursing Home Insurance Alternatives
If you cannot qualify for nursing home insurance due to health, there are a few other alternatives, but you will most likely need assets or a retirement account that is a healthy size.
Below are some alternatives to nursing home insurance if you don’t qualify due to health.
- Qualify for medicaid (must have little to no assets)
- Purchase a deferred income annuity (must be taking RMDs from another account)
- Self insure (keep money invested and pay out of pocket)
The world isn’t black and white, there are plenty of people doing different things to pay for long term care and nursing home expenses.
When To Buy Nursing Home Insurance
The time to buy nursing home insurance is before you have serious health issues.
Many people wait until they have some kind of health event, but at that point it’s too late.
While the nursing home insurance providers are getting better all the time at underwriting, there are still some declinable conditions that will always stay that way, as I showed above.
Summary
I hope this article covered all of your questions regarding nursing home insurance.
You can get lower rates for nursing home insurance if you limit the number of years it pays, but then open yourself up to risk of being in the nursing home for too long and running through your retirement funds.
If you want a quote or have general questions please fill out our contact form and someone will be in touch!
