If it turns out you actually need long-term care (which 70% of those over 65 eventually will) a traditional long-term care insurance policy is a good value. These policies are less expensive that hybrid policies, which combine long-term care and life insurance. If you don’t need life insurance, you could consider a traditional long-term care insurance policy. The only drawback is that if you don’t need long-term care, you wasted all the money you spent on premiums. The odds are you will need care, though, and if so, Genworth offers a traditional policy. Actually, they were one of the first companies to offer this insurance over 40 years ago.
Hybrid long-term care insurance addresses this issue effectively. If you don’t need long-term care after paying all premiums, your beneficiary will receive a tax-free death benefit from the policy when you pass away, just like in a permanent life insurance policy.
>>MORE: The Best Hybrid Long-Term Care Insurance Companies
Quotes of Genworth Long-Term Care Insurance
To get a quote with Genworth, you have to call for a consultation. They used to sell through agents only, but now they sell coverage through an internal sales group. However, you still have to call. They also sell policies through employers.
There is very little information on the website.
>>MORE: The 5 Best Traditional Long-Term Care Insurance Companies
Consumer Satisfaction Rating of Genworth Long-Term Care Insurance
The NAIC has calculated the complaint ratio for Genworth Life Insurance as .35, which means they have about a third as many complaints as you would expect.
However, the BBB gives Genworth a B-. This is actually lower than most insurance companies. There are 31 complaints listed in the last three years and 7 one-star reviews. One of the complaints detail that premiums had increased and that Genworth planned to increase premiums “at least 150% over the next 5-7 years.” That’s not unusual, as health care costs have risen exponentially over the last ten years or so, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re considering Genworth. Several others also complain of rate hikes, by as much as 90%.
There are a few class-action lawsuits against Genworth for rate hikes, one in Virginia and one in Pennsylvania.
Financial Strength Rating of Genworth Long-Term Care Insurance
Genworth was sold to a Chinese holding company for $2.7 billion dollars in 2016. Since then, there have been delays on top of delays, and the sale has still not gone through as of this writing. At first, Genworth needed to get approval from state and federal insurance regulators, but now it seems that China Oceanwide is dealing with some limits imposed by the Chinese government. They’re hoping to close by September 30, 2020, but that remains to be seen.
The reason for the sale is probably that Genworth has a $1 billion dollar debt due in 2021 as part of a settlement agreement with AXA.
In any case, A.M. Best rated Genworth Financial with a C++ as listed on Genworth’s own website. In light of this and the Chinese deal which may or may not go through, we would hesitate before getting a policy with Genworth.
Last Thoughts
While researching their long-term care insurance policy, we fell into a rabbit hole about Genworth’s financial status, lawsuits, and possibly being sold to Chinese Oceanwide. In light of all of this information, we would not recommend Genworth at this time. It’s possible their financial outlook will improve if the sale to Chinese Oceanwide goes through, but it also seems they are stepping back from the long-term care market.
In general, we’d recommend hybrid long-term care insurance over traditional long-term care insurance thanks to its death benefit feature if you don’t need long-term care after paying all premiums. If you want to consider a hybrid long-term care insurance policy, here are our reviews of the top 5 hybrid policies:
- Lincoln Financial’s MoneyGuard III
- Securian’s SecureCare
- Nationwide’s YourLife CareMatters
- OneAmerica’s Asset-Care
- Pacific Life’s PremierCare Choice
16 Comments
My wife and I have been with Genworth since 1996. Premium started at for both my wife and I at $1,99,00 per year. Now it is at $4,900.00 per year. I notice that Genworth stock share in the stock market is little over $3.00 per share. Looks like they will be going out of bussiness if the China company cannot purchase them. The Federal Government needs to be more active with all of the Long Term Care Insurance Companies and their operations.
Genworth is NOT going out of business and in fact has strong financials. The China Oceanwide deal is not going to happen. Yes, rates are going up big-time due to the cost of medical.
I AM ALMOST 80 AND THEY INCREASED MY YEARLY PAYMENT TO AROUND $8000. IF THEY ARE DOING SO BADLY HOW DO THEY ACCOUNT FOR THE MILLIONS IN PROFITS. STATE GOVERNMENT AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOW NO INTEREST IN PROTECTING THE ELEDERLY FROM THESE CROOKS.
We started with Genworth (G.E. at the time) about the same time as you. Trusted the company until it started to go South and now, I have no trust or confidence in this company! My wife and I have (or will soon be “had”) the unlimited benefit policy and we received a letter stating that our rates could go up as much as a whopping 561+%! This is NOT a typo error “561+%”! A friend of mine who bought their policy at the same time as I have moved to another state and did not receive any notice as of yet. This is probably a “damage control and lawsuit avoidance tactic”! Notify small groups so you don’t get a class action lawsuit “again” and manage customer complaints/damage. They did give us several options to choose from, all of which I did not sign up for or would be happy with!
You are totally correct, Genworth’s credit rating is suspect in their ability to payout LTC costs. I am choosing one of the options that will give me “very little” money back and very little coverage. The way I look at Genworth, why invest anymore of your hard earn and savings into a company that may not even be able to fulfill their obligations? Give me some money back so I can invest it and hopefully make my money back.
BTW, forget the State and Federal government, I called the State Insurance Commissioner and got a bunch of garbage and the Commissioner is working with the Federal Government. This problem is rampant with all the LTC companies and nothing is being done! They DON’T CARE!
Want to initiate a class action suit against Genworth Long Term Care. If you’re interested, please contact me at “cglow51@gmail.com”.
I’m responding to my own post with an update. I’ve been receiving emails pursuant to my above post. Please be advised that my husband and I spoke with counsel who represented the most recent class action which was settled. We were advised that our situation would not have qualified is to sue.
What were advised, however, to opt for CONTINGENT NON-FORFEITURE. This means that the $$ amount of premiums we paid into the policy would be available and can be used until the funds have been exhausted. Keep in mind that one still has to apply and qualify to have benefits disbursed. The total benefit amount is then frozen and premiums no longer need to be paid into the policy.
Since we’re not Genworth and interpretation of the LTC policy renewal options are ours only, you should contact Genworth Customer Service at (800) 883-1127x.
i JUST READ A REPORT TO STOCK HOLDERS SAYING THEIR PROFITS WENT UP CONSIDERABLY BECAUSE OF THE NURSING HOME DEATHS. AT THE SAME TIME, I RECEIVED A NOTICE THAT SEMI ANNUAL PAYMENTS WOULD GO UP FROM $2522 TO $3909. MY ORIGINAL COST WHEN I SIGNED UP WAS UNDER $1000 A YEAR IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY AND AS LATE AS A FEW YEARS AGO MY SEMI ANNUAL PREMIUM WENT UP OVER A $1000. IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN THE IRS ONLY ALLOWS ABOUT $5000 AS A DEDUCTION. I WILL FOLLOW UP ON THIS OUTRAGE WITH MY STATE REPRESENTATIVES AND THE INSURANCE COMMISIONER AS WELL AS THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU.
Just read your June 28th, 2021 message; and would like to know if you have any updates. It truly is an outrage: as so many things are these days!! You seem to be someone who is “on top” is things. Any information you could share would be appreciated. Thank you so much, Lanny and Sharon
What did you find out from your follow up?
Unfortunately a couple of class action firms told me their contracts were drafted to be iron clad for raising premiums. Also most of the insurance commissioners have lunch with these companies, and do not really benefit from a private citizen. BBB has no teeth.
The only way to stop premium increase is if you qualify ADL to go on benefit and start recieving the money back. You cant know when that might happen so your sol. Maybe put taxable income from sale of your home into a tax free account to pay for it. Ask your CPA
A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SETTLED IN NOVEMBER 2022 AGAINST GENWORTH IN VIRGINIA. YOU CAN PROBABLY GET MORE INFORMATION AT http://WWW.CHOICE 21LONGTERMCAREINSURANCESETTLEMENT.COM. I THINK WE SHOULD ALL CONTACT OUR GOVERNMENT REPRESNENTATIVES AND ASK THEM TO INVESTIGATE THE TRAVESTY THESE COMPANIES ARE WREAKING ON THE SENIORS IN THIS COUNTRY.
I know there is a lot of outrage and shock about how high the premiums of LTC insurance are. But my Mom is currently with Genworth, I bought the insurance for her about 30 years ago with Jackson Nat Life and was sold to Genworth in 2001. She started using it two years ago, and it has been a godsend. I would not been able to deal with her illness and the expenses. With her four children, it should have been easy. But two of them died, so it is only my sister and I, and with our families the extra cost would have been prohibitive. Her prognosis was 6 months, so far she has lasted 2 years, undoubtable due to the extra in-home care she has, and paid by LTC. You can’t put a cost of extra time with your Mom.
This place is unbelievable, love you when you make payments but when you make claims the claws come out. Paid on this darn thing for 40 years. Dad passed without making a claim. Now our mother physically can not take care of herself. We made a claim. They had a nurse facetime us evaluate my mom, hummmmm you can’t do that and have an efficient evaluation, they asked Dementia questions. Oh, and if we wanted an in person evaluation, we had to pay for it. My mom does not have Dementia, useless facetime meeting. Before this meeting I also sent in all the doctors information, office appointments, falling down dates and the nurse actually responded with a thank you. Weeks, weeks, later, we get a denial saying the interview was all they had to go on was this facetime and she did not pass for Dementia which was NEVER our claim. Someone lied to someone about the information I sent and this lame excuse was either removed or not reported, hummmm perhaps for each denial a bonus may come their way. Seriously, we are fighting for coverage for our mom with 3 notes from medical doctors saying “SHE MUST GO ON THIS AND NEEDS IT” and meets their own criteria. This has been dragged out long enough, months and months. We had to call to wait for hours to get someone to tell us where mom’s claim stood. They never bothered to contact us on their DENIAL. Now, we are still not getting a timely response. RUN AWAY from this place, really RUN or your money will be banked and used when you really need the return. OHHHH and you have to wait a 100 days after a claim to kick in, hummm, says we hope you die before we have to payout. NO joke, this is the situation you will be stuck with.
INTERESTINGLY, MY WIFE HAS A POLIC7 WITH GENWORTH BEYOND THE ONE I INDICATED ABOVE WHICH CAUSED ME TO QUESTION WHETHER TO CONTINUE THE POLICY ($3900 A YEAR CURRENTLY) AND THAT POLICY BARELY SHOWED AN INCREASE. SO WHEN YOU MAY NEED THE POLICY (I AM 78), THEY TRIPLE THE THE PREMIUM. .
THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU AND THE STATE INSURANCE COMMISONERS ARE WORTHLESS. FORTUNATELY, I AM STILL WORKING AND CAN AFFORD THE $8K GENWORTH IS CHARGING ME A YEAR. THEY DID OFFER A LOWER RATE IF I WOULD ACCEPT A LESS COMPREHENSIVE POLICY.
I too are having a time with Genworth. I am 85 years my husband just passed he had Genworth. He had $ 38,000 left in his policy. Now I need help they keep denying me even after my doctor said I needed the care.. I don’t know what to do. Can anyone advise me I need in home care and help. My husband died this past June.