In 1997, individual policies without an inflation adjustment feature ranged in cost from about $250 per year to more than $3,900. Inflation adjustments can add 40 percent to 140 percent to your premium, depending on the option you select, but can keep benefits in line with rising costs.

But the actual premium you will pay depends on many factors, including your age, the level of benefits, and the length of time you are willing to wait until benefits begin. Here are the details:

In 1999, a policy offering a $100 per day nursing home benefit for four years, with a 20-day deductible, cost a 50-year-old about $409 per year. For someone who was 65 years old, the same policy cost about $1,002, and for a 79-year-old, the cost was $4,166. The same policy with an inflation feature may cost $881 at age 50, $1,802 at age 65, and $5,895 at age 79.

Premiums generally don't increase with age but remain the same each year (unless increased for an entire class of policyholders at once). The younger you are when you first buy a policy, therefore, the lower your annual premium will be.

The premium is also directly affected by the size of the daily benefit and the length of time for which benefits will be paid. For example, a policy that pays $100 a day for up to five years of nursing home care costs more than a policy that pays $50 a day for three years.

So-called elimination or deductible periods refer to the number of days you must be in residence at a nursing home or the number of home care visits you must receive before policy benefits begin. Most policies offer a choice of deductible ranging from zero to 100 days. A 20-day elimination period, for example, means that your policy will begin paying benefits on the 21st day. The longer the elimination or deductible period, the lower the premium.

You can lower your own costs for long-term care coverage, therefore, by buying a policy at an early age and by selecting carefully both the level of benefits and the deductible period. In making your selection, bear in mind that while 45 percent of nursing home stays last three months or less, more than one-third last one year or longer. It is the costly longer stay that may be the devastating financial blow that you may want to insure against.