New York Life Long-Term Care Insurance Review and Costs
With strong financial ratings and local agents in all 50 states, New York Life is a great option for long-term care insurance. The company’s policies include stand-alone long-term care coverage, as well as life insurance with long-term care benefits, both of which can drastically offset the rising costs of assisted living, nursing homes, or home care.
Some of New York Life’s policies even include inflation protection, locked-in premiums, and residual death benefits, so beneficiaries can still be paid out from your policy if long-term care is never needed.
FYI: While New York Life is a top-rated provider of long-term care insurance, costs may be higher than average for some policyholders. To compare this provider to more affordable options, read about our favorite long-term care insurance providers.
Pros and Cons of New York Life
Pros
- Combined long-term care and life insurance: New York Life offers both long-term care and life insurance in one streamlined policy. If you don’t use your long-term benefits, your beneficiaries will receive a residual death benefit.
- Local agents available in every state: New York Life has over 12,000 local agents located in every state to help customers with insurance and financial needs.
- Easy-to-file claims: New York Life makes it easy to file and review insurance claims with a streamlined online claim process.
- Financial strength: New York Life has a strong financial portfolio, with financial agencies such as AM Best and S&P Global giving the company an A++ (Superior) and AA+ (Stable), respectively.
- 30-day free-look period: Long-term care insurance policies offered by New York Life offer a 30-day free-look period, which gives you the chance to cancel the coverage within 30 days if you’re not satisfied.
- Three-year rate guarantee: New York Life guarantees that your premiums won’t go up for the first three years of your policy.
Cons
- No online quotes: New York Life does not provide quick online insurance quotes. Instead, you’ll have to contact an agent to begin the process.
- Steep premium increases: In some cases, New York Life may increase your monthly premiums by up to 40 percent after the three-year rate lock, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.
- Stiff underwriting: Depending on the policy and state, New York Life may deny your long-term care coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
Did You Know: AARP members can get LTC plans from New York Life by either requesting information from the AARP website or by calling 800-395-8202.
New York Life Policy Options
New York Life offers two types of long-term care insurance policies: traditional long-term care insurance and hybrid long-term care and life insurance. The benefits and names of these policies may be different depending on the state you live in, but here are the options in Pennsylvania.
New York Life My Care Long-Term Care Insurance
A stand-alone long-term care policy, My Care offers benefits like a three-year lock on your rate, support for in-home equipment for up to $5,000 total, and a return of your premium, if you die before age 65, to your beneficiaries. My Care also offers three optional riders:
- Inflation protection: With inflation protection, your benefits will grow with either the Consumer Price Index or a compound automatic increase of 3 to 5 percent. To put this in perspective, from February 2024 to February 2025, the cost of physicians’ services increased by nearly 3 percent, while the cost of hospital services increased by nearly 4 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Nonforfeiture: Even if you don’t renew your policy, you could still receive policy benefits on a reduced level.
- Shared pools: If you are part of a couple, you can use each other’s maximum lifetime benefit if you’ve used all of your own benefits.
In Pennsylvania, the coverage levels of My Care are as follows:
| New York Life My Care Coverage Levels | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Platinum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum lifetime benefit | $50,000 | $100,000 | $175,000 | $250,000 |
| Maximum monthly benefit | $1,500 | $3,000 | $5,000 | $7,000 |
| Deductible (one-time) | $4,500 | $9,000 | $15,000 | $21,000 |
| Reimbursement rate monthly | 80% | 80% | 80% | 80% |
New York Life Secure Care
Similar to the other stand-alone policies, New York Life Secure Care reimburses policyholders for certified long-term care services. The primary difference, however, is that Secure Care will begin to pay dividends after 10 years of policy life. You can use these dividends to reduce your premiums, and, if the policyholder passes away before using all their benefits, any remaining dividends can be passed on to a designated beneficiary. If you’re a couple, you can get a 25 percent discount.
Like My Care, Secure Care also locks your rates for three years, plus some other benefits:
- Premium waiver: After the initial waiting period, you will get your premium payments covered if you are receiving benefits.
- Care plan benefit: A team will work with you to make sure you get care quickly. You can also use this benefit to pay for a home health aide, allowing you to age in place comfortably rather than going to a nursing home or assisted living facility.
- In-home support equipment: You can spend up to $4,000 to buy or rent equipment you need to stay in your home, such as a stair lift or walk-in bathtub.
Secure Care has the same inflation-protection and nonforfeiture riders as My Care. The rider for couples is slightly different. You’ll only have access to one-third of your partner’s policy after you’ve used your benefits.
See the levels of coverage below, all of which have a 90-day waiting period and a benefit of two, three, five, or seven years.
| New York Life Secure Care Coverage Levels | Secure Care 100 | Secure Care 150 | Secure Care 250 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum lifetime benefit | $109,500 | $164,250 | $273,750 |
| Maximum benefit for care in a facility, daily | $100 | $150 | $250 |
| Maximum percentage of daily benefit available for home care | 100% | 100% | 100% |
New York Life Asset Flex
Our last option in Pennsylvania is a combined life insurance and long-term care insurance policy called Asset Flex, which functions like a traditional life insurance policy. You pay monthly premiums and receive a benefit upon death, but the long-term care component also provides reimbursement for certified care services.
If you’re interested in life insurance, then Asset Flex is a great way to provide an inheritance to your beneficiaries and remain covered for long-term care. If you pass away without needing long-term care, then your policy will still have a residual value passed on to your beneficiaries.
The policy’s downside is the steep up-front cost. To purchase Asset Flex coverage, you’ll have to pay a one-time initial premium of $10,000 to $50,000, which will determine both your long-term care benefit and your life insurance benefit. As an example, let’s say you paid $50,000. You may receive a long-term care benefit of around $336,153 and a life insurance benefit of $112,051.
New York Life Long-Term Care Insurance Costs
Monthly premiums for New York Life long-term care insurance vary from about $25 to $300. The cost varies greatly depending on your age, location, gender, policy type, and coverage amounts within your policy. Additionally, if you purchase a hybrid life and long-term care policy, then you can expect to pay one-time initial premiums.
New York Life My Care Insurance Premiums
| Policy | Monthly Benefit | Premium (Man, 55) | Premium (Woman, 55) |
|---|---|---|---|
| NYL My Care |
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How New York Life Long-Term Care Insurance Works
To receive New York Life long-term care benefits, you will need to choose a benefit period of two, three, five, or seven years, depending on your policy. You will also need to first satisfy a waiting or elimination period of 90, 180, or 365 days before benefits from New York Life will become payable.
Claims can be made either through the mail or through the New York Life online portal. In our experience, the online portal made for quick and simple claims processing.
How to Buy a New York Life Insurance Policy
To purchase an insurance policy through New York Life, we recommend visiting the company’s website and clicking “Find an agent today” for a listing of over 12,000 agents in all 50 states. All you need to do is enter your first and last name and provide additional information to get connected with a local financial professional. You can also visit the Contact Us page and call the main customer service line at 1-800-225-5695.
New York Life Performance
While New York Life Insurance Company has been in business for 180 years, it is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau. While the agency does give New York Life an A+ ranking for customer satisfaction, New York Life has a customer review rating of 1.08 out of five stars. Similarly, customers on Consumer Affairs gave New York Life a 1.5 out of five-star rating from 151 reviews.
Insurance companies tend to have low scores from customer-review aggregators. New York Life’s scores are low, but they’re on par with what’s typical for the long-term care insurance industry.
Financial Strength
It’s important to align yourself with an insurance provider in strong financial standing. AM Best, a global credit-rating agency, gave New York Life an A++ (Superior) rating for financial strength. S&P Global Ratings affirmed its AA+ rating. In their most recent rating in August 2024, however, Moody’s gave New York Life Insurance Company a negative outlook due to their lack of diversification and link to the U.S. government. If the government’s creditworthiness returns to stable, New York Life’s rating could improve as well.
Bottom Line
If you’re deciding between a traditional long-term care policy and a hybrid policy, New York Life may be able to help. With affordable rates and flexible premium payment options, the provider offers added benefits such as inflation protection and locked-in premiums.
There are a plethora of policies with optional riders, but the best place to start is by contacting an agent. From there, you’ll be able to walk through the available options and figure out which one best suits your needs.
As always, you’ll want to compare coverage and premiums to other providers, so be sure to take a look at our additional guides.
Frequently Asked Questions
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How much is New York Life long-term care insurance?
New York Life long-term care policies vary widely in cost, but you can expect to pay a minimum of $30 per month. Policies with greater coverage amounts can easily push upward of $300 per month.
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What is the maximum age to buy a New York Life long-term care policy?
The maximum age to buy a New York Life long-term care policy is 79.
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What does New York Life long-term care insurance do?
New York Life long-term care insurance helps cover the cost of nursing homes, assisted living, adult day care centers, home care, hospice, and other certified care services.
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Does New York Life offer discounts on long-term care insurance?
Yes, New York Life may offer a client loyalty discount. Couples and people who hold other New York Life policies may receive discounts of up to 15 percent off.
