Best Long-Term Care Insurance Companies

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Why We Chose It: Golden Care, also known as National Independent Brokers, Inc., is a long-term care insurance brokerage that specializes in helping you create a tailored long-term care policy that works for you. The company works with top-rated long-term care insurers, earning the best choice of carriers category.

Golden Care specializes in insurance products, including life and long-term care hybrid policies, life insurance, and annuities. Since 1976, GoldenCare has helped customers secure reliable policies from leading carriers. The company is accredited by the Better Business Bureau, which gives it an A+ rating.

Because the Golden Care agents represent several insurers and are licensed in your state, you get the benefit of one-stop shopping and can compare different policies and different companies in one phone call. There is no charge to you. 

To get a quote, fill out a simple online form, including your address, email, and phone, as well as your age, your spouse’s age, and the best time to contact you. 

Within 24 hours, you will receive a call from a Golden Care agent to discuss your long-term care needs in more detail. You will also receive an email that gives a sample cost of coverage for you. 

A sample quote from Golden Care for long-term care insurance for a 58-year-old woman and her 63-year-old spouse costs $206 per month. It covered a total benefit of $175,200 each, for a maximum of 3 years, and paid up to $4,800 per month. It had a 90-day waiting period from the date you begin to start receiving benefits. The emailed quote did not state which carrier was offering the policy, but when you speak to an agent, they will explain the details to you and work with you to find the best policy from all the carriers they work with.

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Why We Chose It: We chose New York Life, the oldest mutual insurance company in the United States, as best overall because of its wide choice of plans, excellent financial ratings, long history, and flexibility in types of policies in terms of where and from whom you would receive care.

New York Life, founded in 1845, is one of the best long-term care insurance providers, with an A++ rating from AM Best and the approval of AARP, which offers its long-term care insurance policies through New York Life. In addition to traditional long-term care insurance, the company offers hybrid insurance that combines long-term care with life insurance; if you end up not needing the funds for long-term care, you receive them in a larger life insurance payout. New York Life also has the most flexibility in covering expenses from a variety of places, from care by a family member, care in your own home, or care in memory care or assisted living facility. 

New York Life offers you a variety of options to match the amount of coverage you need. For example, you can choose a benefit period covering two years up to seven years, and daily payments between $50 and $400. You have a choice of 90 or 180 days for your “waiting period”—the amount of time you will have to pay for any services out of your own pocket before insurance coverage starts. 

Coverage amounts vary from $50,000 to $250,000, the maximum lifetime benefit. If you are a married 55-year-old male, you can expect to pay about $25 per month for a maximum lifetime benefit of $50,000, or about $119 per month for $250,000.

New York Life’s other extra benefits include a money-back guarantee if no long-term care is needed and a death benefit worth 10% of the policy’s face value when the policyholder dies, if the total coverage has been used up.

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Why We Chose It: If you are looking for discounts on your long-term care insurance policy, Mutual of Omaha offers several, with the potential for saving up to 30% off your monthly premiums—making it our choice for best discounts.

Mutual of Omaha, founded in 1909, has an AM Best rating of A+ (Superior). While it offers only one basic long-term care insurance plan, Mutual of Omaha created features that you can customize based on your needs. For example, the standard plan includes a personal care coordinator who helps you assess your needs and arrange services, a waiver of premium so you won’t have to pay while you are using the benefits, and more. 

Mutual of Omaha’s website is easy to use, and you can quickly get a ballpark quote based on your age and your spouse or partner’s age, the state you live in, and how much coverage you would like to get per month. For example, a married 58-year-old female with a husband can expect to pay between $199 and $331 per month for $3,000 to $5,000 in monthly benefit amounts, while a single 70-year-old male can expect to pay between about $243 and $405 for the same coverage amounts. These estimates are for a 36-month policy, with a 90-day elimination period. 

Mutual of Omaha offers discounts for couples: When both partners sign up, they can receive 30% off their premium. If only one partner has a policy, a 5% discount applies. (Couples are defined as legally married, in a domestic partnership, or a committed relationship at a shared residence for at least the past three years.)  If you are in good health, regardless of your age, you can save 15%.

However, to get details on all of your options for personalizing your plan, you must speak with an agent. For example, additional benefits are available at an extra cost, such as inflation protection, shared care (where partners can share benefits if needed), and a return of premium for any benefits you don’t use.

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Why We Chose It: We chose Lincoln Financial Group as best for a short waiting period because it offers the best “no-waiting-period” policies, so you can enjoy immediate access to your benefit payout (without having to fork out even more money for a rider, in addition to your monthly premium). For all covered services, including nursing homes and assisted living facilities, payments start immediately.

Almost all long-term care insurers subject you to a waiting period, the time between the date when you first need a service covered under the policy, and the date your benefits start paying for the extra care you need. The Lincoln Financial Group, which has an A+ (Superior) rating from AM Best, has the best policies that we found for short waiting periods. Its death benefit ranges from $50,000 to $500,000.

Its MoneyGuard II and MoneyGuard III policies both have zero-day elimination periods for coverage if you need a nursing home or an assisted living facility. A 90-day waiting period is typical among insurers.  

Key features of MoneyGuard II (a universal life insurance plan with an optional long-term care benefit rider) include locked-in premiums, tax-free reimbursements for qualifying long-term care expenses, and no deductible. 

Don't end up needing long-term care? You can choose from a tax-free death payout for your heirs, or Lincoln Financial Group will return 100% of your paid premiums. The other option for a no-waiting-period plan, MoneyGuard III, includes a couples discount,  requires no medical exams or lab tests, and offers inflation protection. Lincoln Financial Group also offers a terminal illness rider, which pays up to $250,000 if diagnosed with a terminal disease.