A related issue:

Why buy long-term disability insurance? Sounds like a great idea, but the insurance companies are notorious for making it darn near impossible to collect much, if you become disabled. The theory appears to be that disabled people are not likely to put up much of a fight due to lack of resources and if they do dare to fight back, are likely to die before they get anywhere.

On a somewhat related topic there is a feature story in the March 25th New York Times on how hard it is to collect on long term care insurance before you die. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/26/bu...26care.html?hp