Anyone who’s had exposure to long term care knows the costs can add up quickly. Before you realize it, there can be hundreds of dollars a week going out the door to pay for all sorts of items not covered by Medicare, including companion services or help with such daily activities as bathing, dressing, toileting or other personal care. And if you or a loved one are in need of care in a facility beyond short term rehab, the costs can quickly escalate to an exorbitant level. So how to prepare for this possibility? The first answer may be, before catastrophe strikes, purchase long term care insurance. As one expert has proclaimed, “Not being insured can be the single biggest devastator of a financial plan.”

According to Business Insider, sometime between the ages of 52-64 is the ideal time to purchase long term care insurance, as the older you get the more expensive the premiums will be. And your options for purchasing this insurance have declined in recent years, as companies have miscalculated the life expectancy of policyholders as well as the number of claims they would face, and thus many have gone out of the business. The government website LongTermCare.gov may help you locate policies available in your state, or local insurance brokers may also help. Genworth is the largest provider of this insurance in the country and about a dozen other companies also sell long term care insurance.

If you or a loved one were smart enough to purchase a long term care insurance policy, you may think you’re on easy street, but you’re likely wrong. Not only are premiums for such policies regularly spiking in price, but making a claim can be a source of confusion and frustration. Recently, The New York Times examined the problem of spiking premiums. Writer Tara Siegel Bernard suggests that if you can’t afford the hikes, try to negotiate lesser coverage with your insurer or a reduced daily benefit rather than walking away from the policy altogether. And over at Kiplinger, writer Kimberly Lankford takes you through the ins and outs of making a claim and implores you to read between the lines of your long term care insurance policy. Her advice?  Make sure to document everything, read the policy carefully and make sure loved ones have a copy of the policy and the contact info in case you’re not available or intact to help make the claim yourself.

Finally, if you think you’ve missed the boat on signing up for an individual long term care policy, US News has a list of 10 other options to consider when needing to pay for long term care expenses. So grab your calculator, and click here.