It’s been long established that, while long-term care can be incredibly heartfelt and touching, it is not always a pretty a business.

If you want simultaneous stomach-warming and goosebumps that make you smile, head to the nursery at the hospital, where futures are cheery and long.

With long-term care, you treasure the bright spots among the gray, like a prize in the Cracker Jack box. You know something special is there; it just takes a little more searching to find it sometimes.

That can make people a little more sensitive, to the point of being defensive or on the verge of doing rash things.

In other words, the perfect opportunity for a sales pitch. Enter the insurers. Whether you realize it or not, you’re likely going to need extra care in your older years, the soft-sell goes.

And, my, look how expensive it is!

That’s the generic intro to the cost-of-care “surveys” that the big insurers put out each year. On Tuesday, it was Genworth’s turn.

Providers dislike these “surveys” because it makes operators appear greedy. They question the science of the numbers. Regardless, as with most things, charges always edge upward.

But the bottom line message to the consumer is: OMG, you’re going to need boatloads of cash, or a long-term care insurance policy, to live reasonably in retirement.

Did we mention that the people putting out these surveys happen to sell insurance and financial planning services?

If you want to have further reason to be skeptical about insurer claims, check out the latest comments from Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In an address to the 2018 national conference of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) on Tuesday, Verma extols the administration’s actions with regard to healthcare.

One of the most positive movements is the huge growth of Medicare Advantage Care, Verma says. It saves government funds and makes the insurers money, but I’ve heard providers do nothing but complain about how MA plans are restricting eligibility and, ultimately, their care options.

Long-term care providers aren’t celebrating the growth of Medicare Advantage. They’re merely glad about their survival with it — so far.

It’s been sold like Tom Sawyer conning his pals into wanting to whitewash Aunt Polly’s fence. Not all providers are aware that managed care officials are giving them the toothy ol’ “trust me, everything will be OK” tapdance.

Leaders and observant stakeholders are clearly aware. The big question is what can anyone do about it? With the government “selling” such an option, which not coincidentally takes administration officials off the hook, the answer is not much.

In the meantime, what you can do with these insurer-driven salary “surveys” is read our coverage of them and examine linked details. Discern how the numbers relate to your operation and find a way to use them to your advantage.

But even taken with a grain of salt, it’s important for you to be aware of these reports. That’s because it’s good to know how the public’s view of your business is being molded, no matter what business you’re in. As Mark Twain famously put it, “There are lies, damn lies and statistics.”

It’s not always pretty, but it’s true.

Follow Editor James M. Berklan @JimBerklan.