The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College has released a new Issue in Brief: "The Role of Private Insurance in Financing Long-term Care". It's by a former Business Week colleague, Howard Gleckman.

Here are the key findings:

Long-term care insurance would allow people to preserve assets and choice over providers; and take pressure off Medicaid spending.

However, long-term care insurance has not been widely popular due to:
high costs; misperceptions that Medicare and Medigap will cover long-term care; and the availability of Medicaid.

Private insurance is likely to play only a niche role in financing long-term care.