Transamerica Long-Term Care Insurance: A Solid Choice with Great Rates: 2022 Review

Thang Truong
Thang Truong
Updated on:

Many companies have left the long-term care insurance market. Rising health care costs, plus the invention of the hybrid long-term care/life insurance policy has resulted in many companies bailing out of long-term care insurance. If you still want a long-term care policy, Transamerica offers a fairly affordable policy with some nice features. It’s a solid offer and called TransCare II.

How Much does Transamerica Long-Term Care Insurance Cost?

For our purposes, our quote was for a 50-year old female non-smoker in excellent health.

  • Annual premium: $1,902
  • Daily benefit: $200
  • Total benefit: $292,000
  • Cash benefit alternative: 33%
  • Elimination period: 90 days
  • Rate guarantee: Five years
  • Return of Premium: To age 67

Annual premium of $1,902 is not cheap. However, assuming that you will pay premiums until you pass away at 90 years old, which is 40 years of premium payment. Total premiums will be $76,000. And if you receive benefits, it can be up to $292,000, which is 3.8X total premiums. Not a bad ROI for the investment.

If you compare with hybrid long-term care insurance, this is actually much cheaper. The cheapest hybrid long-term care insurance policy can cost up to $8,000 in annual premiums for 10 years of premium payments for similar benefits.

>>MORE: The Best Hybrid Long-Term Care Insurance Companies

There are a number of policy riders you can choose from:

  • Inflation protection
  • Shared care
  • Return of premium
  • Waiver of premium
  • Alternate care
  • Nonforfeiture benefit  

Daily benefit amounts range from $50 to $500, and you can choose your elimination period, from 0 to 365 days. 

>>MORE: Long-Term Care Insurance: Everything You Need to Know

>>MORE: The 5 Best Traditional Long-Term Care Insurance Companies

Great Features of Transamerica Long-Term Care Insurance

Several nice features of this policy are included. The premium is guaranteed for five years, which is great. Another nice feature is the cash benefit alternative. Normally, this is a reimbursement plan, meaning you collect your receipts for care and Transamerica pays you back. However, you can select the cash benefit instead, which gives you 33% of the total daily benefit in cash. You can use this money to pay for a home health care aid. 

One thing to be aware of with Transamerica is that there is not a lot of information about their long-term care insurance on the website. You will have to call an agent to discuss your needs. On the other hand, the premium is pretty reasonable and you can even get a Return of Premium option in case you change your mind. 

Transamerica will pay for:

  • Nursing home care
  • Home health care
  • Adult day care
  • Hospice care

It’s a relatively straightforward, affordable policy with some nice features. Life all long-term care insurance, you have to have difficulty with two out of six activities of daily living or be diagnosed with cognitive decline in order to receive benefits (after your elimination period). 

One thing people considering Transamerica long-term care insurance is that customer reviews do not speak highly of them. On the BBB’s website, there are 344 complaints over the last three years, 82 in the last twelve months. However, the details of the complaints were unavailable. There are also 61 reviews, most of which are scathing. Of course, people usually go to the BBB to complain, not to praise, so we checked the NAIC as well. Here, you can select for specific types of insurance. Long-term care insurance by Transamerica got a complaint index of 1.31, which means somewhat more complaints than expected. The majority of these complaints revolve around an extremely slow response time and being denied claims. This holds true for the rest of their insurance products, by the way—they have more complaints than expected. 

>>MORE: Life Insurance With Long Term Care Benefits

>>MORE: Transamerica Life Insurance Review

Last Thoughts

Transamerica offers an affordable policy with some good features and customization. The only caveat is that customer reviews are not very flattering. Be careful and be sure to ask questions. There’s not that many long-term care insurance providers left, but be sure to shop around.

>>MORE: Compare Long-Term Care Insurance Quotes Online

Thang Truong

Thang Truong covers small business insurance and small business success at BravoPolicy. He is a licensed P&C insurance agent. Previously, he held product leadership positions at realtor.com, Capital One, NerdWallet, and Mulberry Technology. He holds a MBA degree from UC Berkeley - Haas School of Business.

More Stories

6 Best Indexed Universal Life Insurance (IUL) for 2023

Are you looking for a way to set aside some extra money for your senior years, and maybe a little extra for loved ones to inherit? Most people opt for indexed universal life insurance because it offers the greatest cash value growth tied to the performance of S&P 500 index with the least risk thanks […]

Best Self-Directed Roth IRA Companies for 2023

A self-directed Roth IRA is much like a regular Roth IRA, but offers more flexibility as far as what you can invest in. Whereas a regular Roth will only let you invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, and real-estate investment trusts, a self-directed Roth lets you invest in a greater variety of investment options.  […]

The 5 Best Hybrid Long-Term Care Insurance Companies for 2023

If you’ve decided to plan for every eventuality, you’d be smart to include a plan to cover long-term care. Someone turning 65 this year has an almost 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care, and about 13% of those will need it for five years or more. Long-term care is expensive and can […]

The 3 Best Traditional Long-Term Care Insurance Companies for 2023

Long term care is something that no one likes to think about, but unfortunately, many people will eventually need. Health care costs are skyrocketing, and a lengthy stay at a long-term care facility can easily bankrupt most people’s nest eggs. Long-term care insurance is one way to protect both yourself and your retirement savings. Out […]

The Best Long-Term Care Insurance Companies in California for 2023

California residents who are keen to protect themselves and their families against the worst events in life may be considering long-term care insurance. However, you might not know much about LTC insurance or how it is handled in California. Let’s take a look: What is Long-Term Care Insurance? Long-term care insurance helps pay for long-term […]

The Best Long-Term Care Insurance Companies in Arizona for 2023

Arizona is a great place to retire. It’s warm, there’s no snow to shovel, and Arizona improves the quality of life for anyone with allergies or asthma. When you pack your bags and retire to Arizona, you’re probably not thinking about long-term care. But the sad reality is that 47% of men and 58% of […]

The Best Long-Term Care Insurance Companies in Florida for 2023

There’s a lot of good reasons to retire in Florida. The weather is warm, the beaches are beautiful, and there are lots of other retirees to socialize with. Also, Florida has no state income taxes, no inheritance taxes, and no estate taxes. When you pack up your things and move to Florida, you’re probably not […]

Private Placement Life Insurance: Everything You Need to Know

If you haven’t heard of private placement life insurance, you probably don’t qualify to buy it. Private placement life insurance is typically for investors with millions in liquid cash that they need to invest for tax reasons.  What is Private Placement Life Insurance? Who Qualifies for Private Placement Life Insurance? Benefits of Private Placement Life […]

Nationwide IUL – A Strong Product With Great Features and Excellent Ratings

The Nationwide IUL product can help you either supplement your retirement income or ensure your beneficiaries future by leaving them a nice tax-free death benefit. Obviously, you have many options when it comes to IUL policies, so you want to know how does Nationwide’s policy stack up against the competition? Let’s take a look. Pros […]

Transamerica IUL – A Solid Product but High Consumer Complaint Score & Law Suits

Consumers looking to supplement their retirement income often settle on an indexed life insurance policy. These policies build cash value based on market performance and allow your heirs to enjoy a tax-free death benefit. Let’s take a look at Transamerica’s indexed universal life insurance policy and see what makes it stand apart from other such […]