MetLife Long-Term Care Insurance: What Existing Policyholders Need to Know in 2026

MetLife was once one of the largest issuers of individual long-term care insurance in the United States. The company stopped selling new standalone LTC policies in 2012 — one of the earliest major exits from the market — but continues to administer an in-force block of roughly 600,000 policies. If you hold a MetLife LTC policy, here is what the company's current status means for your coverage and what options are available when your next rate increase notice arrives.

Why MetLife exited the standalone LTC market in 2012

MetLife's 2012 announcement was one of the earliest major carrier exits from standalone individual LTC insurance — arriving before most competitors or policyholders fully understood the scope of the industry's actuarial problem. The three structural causes were identical to what would push Genworth, John Hancock, Transamerica, and dozens of others out of the market over the following decade:

1. Policyholders lived longer and claimed more than projected. LTC policies sold in the 1990s and early 2000s were priced on mortality tables and care utilization assumptions that proved materially wrong. Policyholders who anticipated needing care kept their policies. The in-force block grew increasingly concentrated in higher-risk lives as healthy policyholders lapsed at higher rates than models assumed — a pattern called adverse selection within the retained block.
2. Interest rates collapsed below pricing assumptions. LTC insurance reserves are held in investment-grade fixed income. Original pricing models from the 1990s assumed portfolio yields of 7–8%. When rates fell toward zero and remained depressed for a decade, the gap between projected and actual investment income could not be closed without premium increases. Every carrier with a large in-force block of 1990s–2000s policies faced this math regardless of management quality.
3. Management determined the market risk was unacceptable. By 2012, MetLife had concluded that standalone LTC insurance could not be priced to acceptable profitability given actuarial uncertainty in claim duration and frequency projections. Rather than continue selling into a market it could not adequately price, MetLife exited — earlier than most major competitors and before the full scale of the industry's cumulative loss experience became publicly apparent.

MetLife's exit did not involve selling its LTC policy block to another insurer or entering a reinsurance run-off arrangement with a third party. The company retained full responsibility for its in-force policies and continues to administer them internally. This is a meaningful distinction for existing policyholders: your contractual counterparty remains a MetLife entity backed by the financial strength of MetLife, Inc. — not an unfamiliar successor carrier you never chose.

MetLife LTC rate increase history

MetLife's in-force LTC block has been subject to ongoing rate increases since the carrier's exit. State insurance regulators must approve each increase; states vary in how quickly they approve filings and whether they require phased implementation for large increases.

• 2022 Connecticut filing: MetLife Insurance Company of Connecticut requested increases averaging 29.4%–182.1% on individual LTC policies issued from 1999 to 2012. The wide range reflects different policy generations and product series — policies with richer benefit designs and older pricing assumptions face larger increases than more recently issued policies written at more conservative actuarial assumptions.¹
• Ohio, 2024: MetLife policyholders in Ohio reported premium increases of approximately 144% on certain policy series. State-by-state variation reflects the timing of prior approved increases and each state's regulatory process for phasing increases above defined thresholds.³
• Class-action litigation: MetLife policyholders filed a class-action lawsuit challenging the rate increases as improper. MetLife was vindicated — courts upheld that guaranteed-renewable policy terms explicitly permit class-basis carrier rate filings subject to state regulatory approval and do not guarantee premium stability.⁴

MetLife does not disclose a cumulative nominal-basis rate increase figure for its LTC block in the same way that Genworth Financial discloses cumulative approved increases in quarterly earnings filings. The practical experience for individual policyholders varies materially by state, policy series (product lines from the 1990s carry the largest increases), and original benefit design. Policyholders who bought older policies with compound inflation protection and extended or unlimited benefit periods have typically seen the largest premium increases — because those policies were most aggressively priced relative to eventual claims exposure.

MetLife's financial strength in 2026

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) is one of the largest and most financially robust insurance companies in the United States. The MetLife group carries strong AM Best financial strength ratings across its subsidiaries — verify current entity-level ratings at ambest.com, as subsidiary ratings may differ from group-level ratings.²

Importantly, MetLife is a domestic U.S. publicly traded company, unlike some other closed-block LTC carriers: Transamerica is owned by Aegon N.V. (Netherlands), and John Hancock is owned by Manulife Financial (Canada). MetLife's domestic organizational structure simplifies regulatory oversight and capital management in ways that may be relevant to long-term policyholders thinking about tail-scenario carrier risk over a 20–30 year claims horizon.

Financial strength reflects capacity to pay claims — it does not indicate that the rate increase cycle is complete. A financially strong carrier can simultaneously operate an actuarially underpriced in-force block requiring ongoing rate increases. For MetLife policyholders, strong financial ratings are a meaningful positive relative to carriers with weaker financial profiles; the ongoing rate increase expectation is structural reality regardless of that strength.

Is MetLife selling new LTC policies in 2026?

No. MetLife stopped accepting new individual standalone long-term care insurance applications in 2012 and has not re-entered the standalone individual LTC market.⁵

MetLife has also not launched a hybrid life+LTC re-entry product comparable to John Hancock's LifeCare (an IUL-based hybrid) or Genworth's CareScout Care Assurance (a limited traditional-style product available in 37 states as of 2026). MetLife is the most completely withdrawn of the major exited individual LTC carriers — there is no successor product to discuss with a MetLife agent for new coverage.

MetLife group LTC insurance: MetLife does offer group long-term care insurance through its employee benefits business — sold to employers for their workforces. Group MetLife LTC policies are structurally different from individual policies in the closed block: they are employer-negotiated, may carry different benefit designs, and are subject to different regulatory treatment. If your policy was issued through an employer plan, contact MetLife's group benefits division for policy-specific details. This guide covers individual policies.

Your options as a current MetLife LTC policyholder

When you receive a rate increase notice from MetLife — whether for an increase currently phasing in or a new filing — you will typically have four options. The right choice depends on your policy's current benefit design, how much inflation protection has accrued, your age and health, and your overall financial position. Our LTC insurance premium increase guide covers the full decision framework; below are the MetLife-specific considerations.

Option 1: Pay the increased premium

This is frequently the right choice for policyholders who bought in the 1990s or early 2000s with compound inflation protection that has been accruing for 20+ years. A MetLife policy issued in 2000 with a $150/day benefit and 5% compound inflation protection has grown to approximately $450–$500/day in 2026 — a benefit level that is simply not available in today's individual LTC market at any price, because no carrier is selling new standalone policies with those terms. The replacement cost of equivalent coverage would be prohibitive even if it were available; the MetLife premium at the new rate is typically far lower than the economic value of the inflated benefit pool you've built.

MetLife-specific context: MetLife's financial strength means the primary risk for long-term policyholders is ongoing premium increases — not carrier insolvency or claims payment failure. If the concern driving reconsideration is tail-scenario carrier risk over a 15–25 year horizon, MetLife's position among the financially strongest carriers in any comparison is a meaningful reassurance.

Option 2: Reduce benefits to hold the premium flat

MetLife typically offers benefit reduction choices when sending rate increase notices — reducing the daily benefit amount, shortening the benefit period, or modifying the inflation protection rider. The same principle applies here as with any closed-block carrier:

Protect compound inflation before shortening the benefit period. A MetLife policy issued in 2001 with 5% compound inflation has been growing for 25 years. Eliminating the inflation rider freezes your benefit at the current nominal amount — you would collect in 2001-era dollars if you claim in 2040 while actual care costs continue to inflate at 3–5% annually. If you must reduce something to hold premiums manageable, shorten the benefit period first — not the inflation rider. See our inflation protection guide for the compounding math over a 20+ year horizon and why the order of reductions matters.

Option 3: Execute a 1035 exchange into a hybrid product

If you hold a non-qualified annuity or whole life insurance policy with substantial accumulated cash value, a §1035 exchange allows you to transfer those assets tax-free into a hybrid life+LTC product — such as Lincoln Financial MoneyGuard, OneAmerica Asset-Care, or Nationwide CareMatters — without triggering income tax on embedded gains. The hybrid product replaces your rate-hike-exposed MetLife policy with contractually fixed premiums and a death benefit that passes to heirs if care is never needed.

The limitation: a §1035 exchange requires existing cash value in an eligible life insurance or annuity contract. It is not funded by paying ongoing premiums into a new product from current cash flow. If you don't hold a qualifying asset with embedded gains, this pathway is not available. See our hybrid LTC insurance guide for a full analysis of who these products fit.

Option 4: Drop the policy

Letting the MetLife policy lapse is appropriate only in specific circumstances: you have sufficient liquid assets to genuinely self-fund long-term care costs ($1.5M–$2M+ for singles, $2M–$3M+ for most couples based on median care cost projections), or the policy has been reduced through prior adjustments to the point where the remaining benefit provides minimal economic protection relative to actual care costs in your area.

Most MetLife policyholders who kept their policies through multiple rate increase rounds did so specifically because they lack the self-fund capacity. Dropping the policy forfeits all accumulated premiums and the inflation-adjusted benefit pool built over decades. If you have $2M+ liquid and are genuinely evaluating whether to continue, review our self-fund LTC strategy guide first — the break-even analysis is typically more favorable to keeping the policy than most policyholders expect.

If you decide to drop the policy, ask MetLife about non-forfeiture options before canceling. If you've paid premiums for at least 2–3 years and your policy includes a non-forfeiture benefit provision, you may be entitled to convert to a reduced paid-up policy at no future premium rather than forfeiting all coverage entirely.

Comparing MetLife, Genworth, John Hancock, and Transamerica for existing policyholders

All four represent the same general situation — closed-block traditional LTC carriers managing legacy policies while filing for ongoing rate increases — but with meaningful differences in financial strength, parent structure, and whether they have re-entered the market with successor products:

MetLife's distinctive position: it exited earliest (2012), giving its in-force block additional years to age relative to competitors who exited 2016–2021, and it has made no move to re-enter the LTC market — making it the most completely withdrawn of the major exited carriers. For policyholders, this means there is no MetLife product to consider for replacement from the original carrier.

For Genworth-specific guidance, see our Genworth LTC guide. For John Hancock, see our John Hancock LTC guide. For Transamerica, see our Transamerica LTC guide. For an overview of all current carriers and their financial ratings, see our LTC insurance companies guide.

What a fee-only advisor does with a MetLife LTC policy

The central question for any MetLife policyholder receiving a rate increase notice is the same as for any closed-block carrier: given what you've paid, what you'd pay at the new rate, and what you'd likely receive, does this policy still make sense as part of your financial plan? That analysis requires:

• Calculating the current inflation-adjusted benefit value — what your daily or monthly benefit has grown to after years of compound inflation, and what that coverage is worth relative to current and projected care costs in your area
• Projecting total lifetime premiums at the new rate against expected benefit payout across claim probability and duration scenarios
• Modeling the self-fund crossover: how much in liquid reserves would produce equivalent LTC protection without the MetLife policy?
• Evaluating hybrid alternatives at your current age and health: what does Lincoln MoneyGuard, OneAmerica Asset-Care, or Nationwide CareMatters cost now — and can you qualify medically?
• Assessing Medicaid fallback exposure: what happens to household assets if you drop coverage and eventually require extended care without private coverage?

A commissioned agent earns substantial first-year compensation from a new product sale and earns nothing from recommending you pay the MetLife increase and keep your existing policy. This structural conflict is not unique to MetLife — it applies to every rate-hike scenario across every closed-block carrier. A fee-only advisor charges for the analysis itself, earns nothing from the outcome, and can provide an objective view of whether replacement, benefit reduction, or paying the increase is the right financial decision for your specific situation.