According to government figures, just over half of all Nevada residents who lived past the age of 65 will need some form of long term health care at some point in their life. Depending on how long such care is needed, and how extensive the required care is, the cost for such care can be devastating for the average person.

Many Nevadans erroneously believe that all of their long term health care needs will be taken care of by the state or federal government once they reach the magical age of 65. This is not really true.

The federal Medicare program has almost no provision for long term health care support, and while Nevada's state-run Medicaid program does have a provision for limited long term health care benefits, the requirements for receiving such aid require the recipient to have exhausted all of their own resources first, and even then the choice of facilities and the types of care offered are limited and may not be adequate or the best available.

A better alternative is to purchase private long term health care insurance. And the sooner you purchase it the better. Why? Because premiums increase with age, so the younger you are ? 40 is now the recommended age ? when you take out your long term policy the lower your premiums will be.

Before you go online and begin researching and comparing the costs of long term health care from a variety of different providers it will serve you well to arm yourself with a few basic assumptions.

First, what kind of long term care are you looking for and what dollar amount of benefits do you anticipate needing. It makes a difference in the cost of your long term health insurance whether you anticipate needing round-the-clock nursing home care, or whether you need weekly or daily in-home help with your requirements for daily living ? such as dressing and bathing yourself, preparing meals and so forth.

You'll also have to choose the total dollar amount of care you will be receiving. Some policies put a cap on the overall dollar amount they will pay over the lifetime of the policy ? others put a cap on monthly or even weekly pay-outs.

If there is a history of Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease in your family, or cancer or any other illness which can leave you debilitated for years, then take that into consideration when choosing your policy.

Your Elimination Period will be a big factor in the cost of your long term health care. An Elimination Period is simply insurance-speak for your deductible ? in other words, how much of your own money are you willing to spend for long term health care before the insurance policy takes over ? the longer your Elimination Period the less your premiums will be.

Long term health care is not something most people choose to think about, but it is an unfortunate fact of life for many thousands of Nevadans, but by doing your homework and comparing policies and prices online, it is possible to still save money and get discount long term health care in Nevada.