Life Insurance With Living Benefits – What You Need to Know

Did you know that life insurance policies with living benefits can pay you before you die? These policies allow you to access the face amount for chronic, critical, and terminal illnesses.

Living benefits allow you to get money from your life insurance policy if you’re seriously sick or injured. Instead of only paying your family after your death, your policy can help cover costs like medical bills, rent, or groceries while you’re still here.

It’s no wonder this type of life insurance is becoming so popular. However, it’s important to note that this is not long-term care insurance.

It’s a great way to protect against a high-risk medical condition vs buying a stand-alone LTC policy.

Several life insurance companies have added living benefits to their term life insurance policies. Some companies offer better benefits than others.

Some of the leading companies include:

Company	Chronic	Critical	Terminal
Corebridge Financial – QoL	Yes	Yes	Yes
Transamerica – LB	Yes	Yes	Yes
North American – ADDvantage	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pacific Life – PL Promise	No	No	Yes
Prudential – Term Essential	Yes	No	Yes
Mutual of Omaha – Term Life Express	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mass Mutual	No	No	Yes
Nationwide – Guaranteed Term	Yes	Yes	Yes
Foresters – Your Term	Yes	Yes	Yes
Life of Southwest – LSW Term	Yes	Yes	Yes

When you consider a permanent policy like whole life insurance, the quality and availability of riders tends to improve.

Some of the companies with whole life insurance include:

• Guardian – Long Term Care Rider
• Mass Mutual – LTC Access Rider
• Nationwide – Accelerated Death Benefit for Chronic Illness
• New York Life – Chronic Care Rider
• American National – Accelerated Benefit Rider
• Assurity – Accelerated Death Benefit Rider
• Foresters – Accelerated DB Rider
• Transamerica – Chronic Illness Accelerated Death Benefit

Indexed universal life insurance policies are becoming increasingly popular for living benefits. More and more companies are offering it with their policies, including:

• Corebridge Financial
• John Hancock
• Lincoln National
• Minnesota Life
• Mutual of Omaha
• Nationwide
• North American
• Pacific Life
• Protective Life
• Prudential – Benefit Access Rider (BAR)
• Symetra
• Transamerica

Not all life insurance companies are the same. Here’s a quick comparison of some of the best life insurance companies and what makes their living benefits special:

Corebridge offers the SelectChoice II riders for its QoL term and universal life insurance products.

The Quality of Life (QoL) products have living benefits riders built into the policy and provide benefits for chronic, critical, and terminal illness.

• Living Benefits – Chronic, Critical, and Terminal Illness
• Built-In Pricing – Included automatically with QoL products.
• Lifetime Maximums – Up to $2 million may be accelerated for living benefits.
• Terminal Illness – Defined as having 12 months or less to live.

QoL universal life insurance policies offer an optional Accelerated Access Solution (AAS) rider that can be added to your policy for an additional premium.

The AAS rider increases the maximum available lifetime benefit to $3 million.

Guardian offers living benefits riders for chronic and terminal illness and LTC riders on insurance policies.

Highlights include:

• Enhanced Accelerated Benefit Rider (EABR)
  • Terminal Illness – Up to 100% of Death Benefit
  • Chronic Illness – Limited to the IRS Per Diem Limit ($420 Daily in 2025)
• Joint LTC Rider on Survivorship Whole Life
  • Either insured or both may select the rider.
  • Covers assisted living, home health care, nursing homes, and more.
  • Maximum monthly benefit up to $50,000.
  • Lifetime benefit pool up to $2.5 million.
  • 90-day waiting period to receive benefits.

Like most companies, living benefits underwriting is limited to a class 4 rating or better, which aligns with most carriers.

Lincoln Financial offers terminal illness benefits on term life insurance and living benefits on universal life insurance. Some policies also offer LTC riders.

Highlights include:

• LifeAssure Accelerated Benefits Rider
  • Chronic Illness Lifetime Max of $1.5m, ($1m for ages 70-80)
  • Critical Illness Lifetime Max of $250,000
  • Terminal Illness Max of the lesser of 50% of DB or $250,000
• Lincoln Care Coverage Accelerated Benefits Rider
  • Covers qualifying LTC expenses
  • Monthly Benefit Maximum – $50,000
  • Lifetime maximum of $2.5 million

We will provide you with the complete company illustration containing each company’s terms and eligibility information.

Mass Mutual offers terminal illness benefits on its term life insurance policies, and the UL Guard universal life policy offers living benefits for chronic and terminal illnesses.

Highlights include:

• Term Life Insurance
  • Terminal Illness—The maximum acceleration is the lesser of 75% of the death benefit or $250,000. Terminal illness is defined as expected death within 12 months.
• Universal Life UL Guard
  • Terminal Illness – The same as the term insurance product.
  • Chronic Illness – Lifetime Maximum of $1,000,000. Annual Maximum is the lesser of 20% of the eligible amount or $200,000.

Mutual of Omaha offers two living benefit options on their Indexed Universal Life (IUL) policies: the Chronic Illness Rider and the Long-Term Care (LTC) Rider.

Both allow access to your death benefit if you’re diagnosed with a chronic illness, but they differ significantly in costs, benefits, and flexibility.

Chronic Illness Rider Features:

• Chronic Illness Rider – 80% of the death benefit up to $1m may be accelerated.
• Included Automatically – There is no additional cost for this rider.
• Flexible – It can be accessed as soon as needed, with no elimination periods.

Long-Term Care Rider Features:

• Maximum Benefits – Up to $2 million with monthly acceleration of 1, 2, or 4%.
• Monthly Reimbursement – Actual LTC expenses reimbursed, no lump sums.

The chronic illness rider is less expensive and has no upfront costs, providing maximum flexibility in spending funds as needed.

The long-term care rider is best when you need maximum benefits.

Nationwide offers living benefits on its term life insurance and universal life policies.

Highlights include:

• Terminal Illness – A Maximum of 50% of the death benefit, but may not exceed $250,000 – Terminal illness defined as 12 months or less to live.
• Chronic Illness—The Maximum is the lesser of 20% of the specified amount or the per diem rate x 365 ($420 per day in 2025).
• Critical Illness – Maximum is the lesser of 10% of a specified amount or $25,000 per event. Maximum of 5 events.

The living benefits rider for chronic, critical, and terminal illness is available on Nationwide’s No-Lapse Guarantee UL II and other UL and whole life products.

North American offers living benefits on its ADDvantage term life policies and its universal life insurance policies. Highlights include:

• Living Benefits – Chronic, critical, and terminal illness.
• Acceleration Maximums – A maximum of $2 million may be accelerated.
  • Critical Illness – 90% of death benefit up to $1 million.
  • Chronic Illness – 24% of death benefit or $480,000, whichever is less.
  • Terminal Illness – 90% of death benefit up to $1 million.
• Flexible – Money can be used as you see fit for related expenses.
• Terminal Illness – Defined as having a life expectancy of 24 months or less (12 months in Florida)

North American does not charge extra for its accelerated benefits as they are priced into the policy.

Pacific Life offers terminal illness benefits on its PL Promise term policies and living benefits on its PL Promise universal life policies.

Promise GUL Living Benefits:

• Lifetime Benefits – Maximum of $3 million.
• Premium Savings – Premiums are waived during claims.
• Accessibility – Benefits are available internationally.

Benefits may vary by state of residence.

Prudential offers its Living Needs Benefit Rider on term life insurance policies, and the BenefitAccess Rider (BAR) on universal life insurance policies.

Notes: Prudential’s term life insurance is more restrictive than those of other companies. The benefit is available for nursing home use only after being confined for 6 months, compared to other companies’ benefits that can be used at home. Also, there are variations in benefits depending on your state of residence.

Terminal illness benefits are available for those with life expectancies of 6 months or less (12 in CA). Several companies use 12 months for all states.

Transamerica Trendsetter LB is a term life insurance policy with living benefits.

• Living Benefits – Chronic, Critical, and Terminal Illness.
• Flexible – No waiting periods like traditional LTC.
• Acceleration Maximums – 100% of death benefit for terminal, up to $1.5 million. Up to 90% for chronic or critical illness, subject to policy rules.
• Terminal Illness – Is defined as expected to die within 12 months.

It’s important to note that benefits and eligibility vary by state and existing health.

To pick the best policy for you, ask yourself:

• How much money would I need each month if I got seriously sick?
• Do I plan to travel or retire abroad?
• Do I want premiums that never increase?
• Can I wait 90 days for benefits, or do I need immediate access?
• Answering these questions will help you quickly narrow down the right choice.

People often ask, “Is life insurance with living benefits worth it?” Here’s why many think it is:

• Immediate financial relief when you need it most.
• Knowing you’ll have money for medical bills or everyday expenses is less stressful.
• Freedom to use your money however you want.

It’s worth your time to consider policies with living benefits, as you can get the death benefit you need while still having access to benefits.

Please take a few minutes to request your free, no-pressure and no-obligation quote today!