AARP Long Term Care Insurance: 2024 Update
AARP has long been an advocate of Long Term Care Insurance and provides excellent educational resources on the topic. However, AARP endorses specific LTC insurance policies from only one company, New York Life. Conventional wisdom is that shopping around always makes sense.
In the past, AARP partnered with insurers like MetLife and Genworth. If you have one of those older policies and are looking for support or assistance, click here for MetLife or click here for Genworth. If you're in the market for a new policy, read on for more information.
What to Look for in a Long-Term Care Insurance Policy
When shopping for an LTC insurance policy, some of the key factors to consider include:
- Daily Benefit Amount: The maximum daily amount the policy will pay out for care. Choose an amount that will adequately cover care costs in your area.
- Benefit Period: The length of time benefits will be paid. Longer periods offer more protection but also come with higher premiums.
- Elimination Period: The number of days you must pay for care out-of-pocket before benefits kick in, typically 30-90 days. Longer periods mean lower premiums.
- Inflation Protection: An optional rider that allows your benefit to grow over time to keep up with the rising cost of care. 3-5% compound inflation protection is recommended.
- Insurer Financial Strength: Look for policies from insurers with high financial strength ratings from agencies like A.M. Best to ensure they can pay claims in the future.
Of course, premiums are also a key consideration. But rather than simply choosing the cheapest policy, it's important to find the best combination of benefits, insurer strength, and value. Working with an independent broker who can provide quotes from multiple insurers is often the best way to compare your options.
History of the AARP Long Term Care Insurance Options
In years past, the AARP Long Term Care Insurance plan was one of the premium LTC policies on the market. AARP-endorsed plans always had competitive rates and have traditionally included extra bells and whistles. AARP endorses top-quality companies in all of its products, ranging from travel to insurance to cell phone plans.
In late 2013, AARP's marketing agreement with Genworth Long Term Care ceased to exist, leaving AARP members with the freedom to not select from just one carrier, but from many plans on the competitive market. NY Life is one option, but several other highly-rated companies compete in this market.
Sample AARP Long Term Care Insurance Premiums From The Past
We ran some historical rates of past AARP LTC policy forms. As you can see, rates over time have gone up.
Here are sample premiums for a $5,000/mo benefit, 5 years, with no automatic inflation protection, for a 60-year old single male:
| AARP Flex Choice | AARP Group Plan By Genworth | AARP My Future My Plan 2011 |
|---|---|---|
| $5,100/mo | $6,000/mo | $6,000/mo |
| 5 Years | 5 Years | 5 Years |
| Guaranteed Purchase Option | Purchase Option Inflation | Future Purchase Option |
| $1,944.60/year premium | $2,434.08/year premium | $2,876.70/year premium |
| No other riders included | No other riders included | Included 0-day Home Care & 10y Survivorship. |
*All of these polices have been withdrawn, the table is for historical comparisons.
It's clear that over the years and in subsequent generations of policies, the cost for coverage changed quite a bit for similar coverage.
This same coverage on a modern policy (2014 and beyond) would start at around $2,596/year (less than the 2011 AARP rates).
Request a quote from us and we'll shop all of your options - including past AARP affiliated companies' rates.
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