Yes, purchased when we were in our late 40's. Policies are offered thru our state pension fund that is aggressive at guarding policyholder rights. If a carrier wants to leave the market (it's happened twice in 16 yrs) they are not allowed to until a replacement insurer is found to take over the book of business.
Having worked in insurance I was pretty sure premiums for LTCi were set much too low and would rise in the future. Classwide premium increases are allowed, with options to reduce coverage in various ways to keep premiums same or lower. We budgeted for future increases and fortunately our income has risen to allow us the luxury of keeping our current policies in situ. It is not cheap insurance; we have "Rolls Royce" plans and intend to keep them.
Our CFP firm congratulates us every time we meet for being so foresighted, LOL. They have one long-time client who has run through very substantial assets paying for nursing care and was forced to move into a Medicaid facility. Our CFP told us, "It's hard to even bring myself to visit him now. He was in a great facility nearby. But when the money ran out, he had to leave. The (new) place is just awful. Dreary, tiny shared room, indifferent staff. But he's stuck. My other two clients who are in nursing homes had LTCi. They're in good places and their assets are intact. So keep your policies as long as you can!"
The sad thing is, the pension fund allowed us to offer our family the chance to buy policies too. The premiums are market-priced, but having the weight of the country's biggest pension fund gives policyholders a significant "clout" that ordinary purchasers of LTCi don't have. We don't have to worry about an insurer going "belly up" on us or refusing to pay a legitimate claim. There's a consumer advocate rep assigned specifically to help with any issues we might have.
So we offered, but all of them turned us down.
In the past 16 yrs we have seen our various family members suffer a total of three heart attacks (two fatal), two strokes (one fatal), seven cases of hypertension, and two cases of severe osteoporosis.
My MIL went into a full-service CCRC in 2013. In Asst. Lvg. with only minimal help for medication and weekly bathing, she paid almost $5K/month. Had she gone into Memory Care or Skilled Care (nursing) units, the cost would be slightly over $8K/monthly - $98,000 per year!
And every year, those costs rise. We investigated eight different senior facilities for MIL and every one of them told us that statewide, facilities raise their rates every July without fail. Increases run 3-5%/yrly.
Our LTCi policies have a 5% compounded increase option. Currently each one pays $103K/yr for nursing care, and 50% of that for Asst. Lvg. We could move to a wonderful nearby CCRC we've been eyeing. Even if you live independently, the units are classified as AL because it's easier for the facility to have consistent paperwork and registration. They provide all meals, housekeeping, laundry, and various social activities, including a full gym and rooftop garden. So our policies will pay most of the cost for the facility even though we don't currently need any assistance.
Friends/family laughed at us for buying LTCi so young. But now that we're all in our 60's and older, every one of them has privately confessed to us they are envious that we were "smart enough" to have planned ahead.