You must purchase a long term care insurance plan before you need to use it because once you get sick or get an injury you will be uninsurable and will get declined. Plan ahead and buy early because the younger and healthier your are the lower your premiums will be.

Shop around when buying long term care insurance and be sure to get quotes from at least 3 different carriers.  There are a bunch of companies out there and make sure you get quotes from Genworth Financial (formerly GE Capital), John Hancock, MetLife, Allianz Life, Prudential Financial, and Mass Mutual.  These are the absolute best long term care insurance companies on the market.  There are a few other good long term care insurance companies out there but make sure you compare them to the ones mentioned above.

Check the long term care insurance company's financial ratings and credit stability through third party companies like A.M. Best or Standard & Poor's. Your State's Insurance Commissioner also has records of compliant report ratios for long-term care insurance companies. 

Be sure to read your long term care insurance policy and look carefully at the exclusions in it before you buy.  Work with an agent who represents several long term care insurance companies because they will be more objective.

Take your time when buying long term care insurance...they will still be selling policies tomorrow so do not let your agent pressure you into anything you are not comfortable with.

All long term care insurance policies have a 30 day free look period that will give you time to review it and if you are not completely satisfied you can return it for a full refund.

If you are replacing your current long term care insurance policy never cancel the existing coverage until you have been approved by the new company.