We’ve all heard horror stories about elderly people who can’t take care of themselves moving into costly nursing homes and “outliving their money.”

As Americans live longer, more of us will need some long-term care, and the insurance industry has a blizzard of policies to help pay for it.

Today, the cost of nursing home care averages about $62,000 a year nationwide, and the average patient stays for 2.4 years – for a total cost of about $148,000, according to AARP, the nonprofit organization for people 50 and older.

So to begin my look at long-term care insurance, I contacted AARP and got a quote from its designated provider, MetLife.

The results seemed encouraging. For $44.76 a month, a 55-year-old man can get a policy that would pay up to $131,400 in long-term care costs.

Suppose I paid $44.76 a month for 30 years, moved to a nursing home and used the entire benefit. I’d have paid a mere $16,114 to get all that coverage.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. This “Basic” policy would pay for an assisted living facility or nursing home, but not for care in my home or to help defray costs of care provided by friends or family.

And you can’t just decide to move to a nursing home and begin drawing the money. To get benefits, one has to satisfy a set of “triggers,” such as needing help bathing, dressing or eating.

Also, the premium is likely to rise over time; unlike many life-insurance policies, long-term care premiums are not fixed for the life of the policy. State insurance regulators can, and do, grant rate increases.

Most important: The total benefit might fall short of the costs I’d face 30 years from now, given that long-term care costs rise by about 5 percent a year.

So I also looked at the top-of-the-line “Select” policy. It would cover those things the basic policy wouldn’t, and it would start out providing $219,000 in coverage. And that limit would increase by 5 percent a year.

Cost: $218 per month – nearly five times as much. And, again, this could go up. Gee, I’m not sure I want to spend so much on something I might never need. Over 30 years that would be nearly $75,000.

If I invested $218 every month instead of getting this policy, I might well have more than $300,000 in 30 years – enough to pay for lots of health care.

On the other hand, the inflation protection means this policy could pay out nearly $1 million three decades from now.

You get the picture: There’s no simple answer on whether long-term care insurance makes sense. Most people don’t bother with it, but many may regret that decision someday.

There’s lots more to say on this subject, and I plan to write about it a good deal during the next few months.

In the meantime, for a good overview call (816) 783-8300 to order the free 62-page NIAC booklet, “A Shopper’s Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance.” It ends with a set of worksheets with the questions one should ask in evaluating policies.