AARP’s new relationship with Genworth will provide a portfolio of long-term care coverage with limited features and benefits.

What is the difference between the group and individual plans?

The AARP group plan has fewer options than an individual plan:
* Either 3 or 5 year benefit period (benefit multiplier).
* With the 3 year plan only 75% of your benefit is paid for home care.
* A 90 day elimination period for all care (90x$200=$18,000 you pay before benefits start).
* No survivorship benefit (if both spouses have a policy for 10 years and do not have a claim and one spouse dies the surviving spouse never pays another premium for their LTC insurance).

Because there is a 90-day elimination period for home care, a lower home care benefit, and no survivorship benefit the group plan premium will be lower for some ages.

There is also something called Claims Offset. When you start a LTC insurance policy you begin with a Lifetime Benefit Account (LBA) which is calculated by multiplying the current Daily or Monthly benefit times the Benefit Period (days, months). This LBA is increased on the anniversary of the policy by the Inflation Protection you selected.

When you go on claim you stop paying premiums and your LBA gets reduced every time the insurance company sends you a check. The amount that they base your next benefit increase on is either on the original amount when you put in the claim, or on the new amount after you have drawn out $xxxx from your LBA account.

Claims Offset is based on the new amount, hence the term. The AARP group plan is Claims Offset which means your future increases are effectively reduced by any benefit payments you receive on claim. 5% of $200,000 is $10,000 -- 5% of $100,000 is $5,000 -- the difference between Claims Offest and no Claims Offest here is $5,000.

Premium chart comparisons:
AARP-MetLife-John Hancock Single
AARP-MetLife-John Hancock Couple

We provide information on policies from top companies like MetLife and John Hancock, both previously endorsed by AARP. In some cases these plans may be more appropriate.

Begin by getting a quote emailed to you. You can also call or email us with any questions you may have, our toll free number is 1-888-582-2464. We are here to help you with your long term care planning.