... Coverage is $314 per day for 5 years. Of course, we still have the 90 day exclusion period. ...
The issue of LTCI can be a very emotional one. My father used the benefits from his policy for about 15 months in a nursing home until he died. The insurance company did not balk at paying per the policy terms so it was a good experience from the insurance policy perspective. But he died before using all of the benefit.
His was my first experience with the nursing home industry as a customer. I learned that nursing homes do not have to accept everyone who wants to move there. Sort of like applying to college in that respect. The nursing homes we checked out were more likely to accept new customers if they had LTCI because at least part of their fee was insured and not dependant on personal resources or government programs.
This is how I think of LTCI in an effort to keep some of the emotion out of the decision:
In general, I believe insurance is for covering potential major expenses that are beyond what I would be able to pay on my own, or beyond what I would want to pay on my own.
Assuming the daily payout is $314 for a maximum of 5 years, I would be buying $314 / day * 365 days/year * 5 years = $573,050 worth of coverage. If I can cover the $573,050 from my own resources (without depleting funds for the surviving spouse) then LTCI is not something I would buy.
I would evaluate whether I thought the premiums were worth the cost for $573,050 of coverage. I would consider that many policies raise the premiums every year or two, often with large increases. My mother still has her LTCI policy. Every year or two she is faced with the choice of paying much higher premiums or reducing her coverage.
Since many people with LTCI do not use the full policy benefit, and many use no benefit at all, I would choose the option for the maximum daily payout over the shortest possible length of time. That way, I would maximize the benefit I receive from the policy.