Advisers were left with one fewer long-term care insurer (LTCI) when Prudential Financial Inc. backed away from the individual LTCI business this week, InvestmentNews reported. Though the carrier will continue selling group LTCI coverage, its exit from the individual side of the business is the latest in a series of departures in the past 18 months. About a year ago, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America said it would drop LTCI in order to focus on disability and life insurance. In late 2010, MetLife Inc. stepped away from the individual LTCI market, too. Carriers that have stayed in the business have raised premiums on in-force business and increased the costs of new policies.