Shared care is a long-term care insurance feature that allows two insureds, usually spouses or partners, to share a combined pool of benefits. Instead of each person having a strictly separate bucket of coverage, a shared care design lets one spouse access the other's unused benefits after exhausting their own, subject to policy limits. Shared care can effectively extend protection for the first spouse to need care while still leaving benefits available for the second. The feature may be built into a policy or added by rider, and usually increases premiums compared with stand-alone individual coverage. Shared care helps couples hedge the uncertainty of who will need care first and for how long, improving flexibility within a fixed premium budget.

Advisors present shared care when designing LTC or hybrid life/LTC coverage for married couples concerned about uneven or catastrophic care needs. Illustrations show how a shared pool works if one spouse uses little or no care while the other experiences an extended claim. Underwriting may require both spouses to qualify based on age and health to elect shared care. Advisors explain contractual details, such as whether benefits are truly pooled or whether a separate shared bank is created, and what happens if one spouse dies. Understanding shared care helps advisors tailor long-term care plans that protect both spouses while balancing cost, benefit duration, and inflation protection choices.