If we could have it our way, we’d all be fit and healthy until our final day. In reality, most of us need extra help at one time or another. Whether that’s a hand with housekeeping or around-the-clock medical care, you’ll need a plan to pay for the care you need.

Don’t count on Medicare to foot the bill: Medicare is invaluable for senior health care, but it doesn’t cover long-term care. However, seniors can free up funds for long-term care by getting their health benefits locked down. For many seniors, that means opting for Medicare Advantage over Original Medicare. Options such as Anthem Blue Cross Medicare Advantage offer the same coverage as Medicare Parts A and B with additional benefits including prescriptions, dental, vision, and fitness services, and a 24/7 nursing advice line. Rolling these medical expenses into a single policy keeps monthly costs predictable and leaves seniors with fewer bills to juggle.

Simplifying your health insurance means you’ll face fewer unexpected bills from health care providers, but it doesn’t solve the long-term care problem. For that, you’ll need a separate plan.

According to Morningstar, more than half of today’s seniors will need long-term care. For some, that’s part-time help around the home. For others, it’s a long-term stay in a nursing home.

It’s hard to predict what type of care you’ll need, if any. If you’re healthy today, live a healthy lifestyle and have family nearby, you might not need paid care. However, not all health problems are predictable, and an accident or chronic illness could change the outlook of your future.

It’s easier to predict when long-term care is inevitable. If you have a chronic illness, mobility problems, or other disability risk factors, you’ll likely need long-term care when you’re older. Women, long-lived individuals, and people with a family history of chronic disease are also more likely to need care.

Long-term care is costly. Nursing home care, the most expensive option, is rapidly approaching $100,000 a year in many parts of the country. Even assisted living costs an average of $3,420 in Arizona.

Thankfully, most seniors don’t spend years in nursing homes, racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. While HealthDay reports that more than half of seniors will need nursing home care at some point, the average stay is less than 1.5 years. Once they’re back in the community, seniors can receive home caregiving at a much lower cost.

The final cost of long-term care adds up to less than $25,000 for most seniors (although 15.2% will incur more than $250,000 in long-term care bills). While not a daunting number, it’s an amount worth planning for. To cover the cost, seniors have three options:

1. Self-insurance: Seniors who self-insure pay out-of-pocket using savings, income, and assets. Seniors wary of draining retirement accounts can take a withdrawal or loan from a life insurance policy, settle it for cash, or convert a life insurance policy to a long-term care benefit plan. Another option is selling a second home (homes in Tucson have been selling for an average price of $215K) or applying for a reverse mortgage on a primary residence. Unlike a sale, a reverse mortgage leaves seniors a home to return to. However, a reverse mortgage isn’t right for everyone; be sure to research the pros and cons before making the leap.
2. Long-term care insurance: On the surface, long-term care (LTC) insurance looks like the most straightforward option: pay for a policy, and the policy will pay for care. In reality, LTC policies vary widely in coverage types and benefit limits. Seniors purchasing LTC insurance must choose carefully to ensure their plan matches their future needs.
3. Medicaid: Low-income seniors can receive long-term care coverage through Medicaid. Medicaid eligibility varies by state and may not be available to every senior in need. Medicaid can be used for institutional or home-based care, but seniors must be deemed medically and financially eligible before receiving benefits.