Advice offered by Marc Hebert, president of The Harbor Group Inc., a certified financial planner. If you have any questions about finance or if you'd like to suggest a future topic, email webstaff@wmur.com.When most people hear the term long-term care, they think of nursing home costs, but this isn’t entirely the case. Long-term care refers to the ongoing services and support needed by people who have chronic health conditions or disabilities. There are three levels of care:• Custodial care: This is personal care and may be given by family caregivers, nurse’s aides or home health workers. It assists with the “activities of daily living” such as bathing, eating and dressing.• Intermediate care: Care is usually provided by professionals, but is needed less often.• Skilled care: In this case, care is usually needed round-the-clock and is given by professional health care providers.Also, nursing homes aren’t the only places care is received. It could be provided in assisted living facilities and adult day care. The most common type of long-term care is home-based.It is important to consider the need for long-term care. Here are some statistics from the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.• After reaching age 65, approximately 70 percent of people will need long-term care at some point during their lifetime.• Approximately 8 percent of people between ages 40 and 50 will have a disability that may require long-term care services.Providing care is expensive. The average cost in the U.S. is $6,965 per month for a private room in a nursing home. It costs on average $21 per hour for a home health aide.Some people think that Medicare will pay the cost, but this isn’t necessarily the case. Medicare will only pay for a limited amount of services such as skilled nursing care or physical therapy, for a limited amount of time. It may also provide some home health care. It doesn’t cover the custodial care that older people will need.If Medicare doesn’t pay, some think Medicaid will. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program, and to qualify you have to have limited income and assets. Medicaid will generally cover nursing home care, but will provide only limited coverage for home health care in certain states.Paying out-of-pocket is another option and will provide the most control over where and how you receive care. As mentioned above, the cost is high and you may have trouble affording extended care.Long-term care insurance is another alternative. In exchange for the premium payment the insurance company promises to cover part of your future long-term care costs. Be aware that this can be expensive, so before you purchase a policy, make sure you can afford the premiums both now and in the future. Choose your benefits wisely. The key features to consider are the benefit amount, benefit period, elimination period, type of facilities included and the inflation protection.As can be seen, there are many ways of paying for long-term care costs. The key is to review your individual situation and plan as much as possible for the future.