My parents, who lived to be 99 and 86 respectively, chose not to have health insurance, but rather to pay any expenses as they occurred. My dad's life insurance that he had bought many years prior paid off when he turned 90 and they invested that. My mom kept him at home after he became bedridden at about 95 as a result of strokes. Eventually she got someone to come in several days a week to give her some assistance and a chance to get out of the house occasionally as Daddy got agitated if she was not there, even after he didn't always know who she was.
She lived alone but still kept my kids after school once Daddy was gone. She had been keeping them ever since we moved back when DD (my youngest) was 2, so I could go to work. I did her shopping for her (which she hated doing) and she kept the kids after school until DD was in 5th grade and thought she was too old to need to go to Grandmothers after school as it was a few blocks farther to walk. Mother had developed Parkinson's, but did not let us know how bad it was, so we were shocked when she had a massive stroke that October and died 2 days later, a blessing as the stroke was in a spot where she would not have been able to take care of herself at all and she would not have been able to stay at home, even with full time in home care, so she would have been miserable.
Currently my FIL who is 91 is in a skilled care facility. The one he was in before as assisted living got too expensive after he began needing more care. The one he is in now is smaller, less expensive and seems to be giving him better care because of higher caregiver to resident ratio. And he likes the food better too. The other facility was 'prettier', but that isn't everything! And he can still go visit Margaret if he wants to even though she usually won't respond when he talks to her. Her kids have let her remain in the other facility until there is an opening close to where one of them lives (a 5 - 6 hour drive away).
What DH and I will do when our time comes, who knows...not sure what the VA offers, since he would qualify as retired military with 22 years in service. I know the medical insurance paid well when he needed surgery prior to being eligible for medicare and when I had the problem with the infection in my foot a few years ago.
In the mean time I'm going to try to continue to stay healthy!