Is Aetna Good Insurance? The Truth You Need to Know

Aetna is one of the oldest insurance companies in the country. But, is it good insurance? Aetna offers health insurance, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid products, plus employer benefits and individual life insurance for seniors.

Here’s what you should know about Aetna’s senior life insurance and why we don’t recommend it.

Aetna Life Insurance Products

While Aetna is more well known for its health insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid products, it also sells life insurance products. Aetna’s main focus is selling group health and dental plans through employers, but employees can also get group life insurance coverage through Aetna as part of their employee benefits package.

But you don’t have to be employed or hope human resources picks up Aetna to get life insurance coverage. Aetna offers specific policies for seniors wanting individual life insurance for themselves, their spouses, or for adult children looking for coverage for their parents.

Related Reading: Medicare vs Medicaid—Whats the difference?

Aetna Life Insurance For Seniors

Aetna life insurance for seniors is available through Accendo Insurance Company, which is an affiliate of Aetna and part of the CVS Health family of companies.

Accendo final expense life insurance plans are available nationwide, except for Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island. Issue ages range from 40 to 89, and your age will determine how much coverage you can apply for, from $2,000 to $50,000.

Aetna Life Insurance Final Expense Insurance

Aetna has two types of final expense insurance life insurance plans: level and modified. 

Aetna Final Expense Insurance Level Plan

The Aetna final expense level plan comes with an immediate death benefit for all causes, which means when the Good Lord calls you home, your beneficiary will receive the full death benefit.

The minimum coverage amount is $2,000, and the maximum depends on your age when applying for coverage:

• 40 to 55: $50,000

• 56 to 65: $40,000

• 66 to 75: $30,000

• 76 to 89: $25,000

Very healthy applications can get 10% cheaper rates if they answer no to all the application health questions. However, only those with a recent Aetna Medicare Supplement plan can qualify for super preferred rates.

The level plan also comes with three riders:

• Accidental death benefit: The beneficiary receives 100% of the base face amount if the policy was issued between the ages of 40 and 70 when death is accidental.

• Accelerated death benefit: The insured can receive up to 50% of the death benefit while still alive if diagnosed with a terminal illness.

• Child/grandchild term insurance: Provides up to $10,000 per child for a child, adopted child, stepchild, grandchild, adopted grandchild, or great grandchild through age 25.

Aetna Final Expense Insurance Modified Plan

If you can’t qualify for the level plan, you might qualify for Aetna’s final expense insurance modified plan. This plan is for ages 40 to 75 and offers up to $25,000 in life insurance.

Although accidental deaths are paid at 100% of the death benefit amount, a non-accidental death in the first two years will only receive 110% of the premiums paid. After the second year, the beneficiary will receive the full death benefit.

This plan also doesn’t include any of the benefit riders available on the level plan. 

Aetna Life Insurance Funeral Insurance

Paying for a funeral can be difficult when you’re on a fixed income, which is why funeral insurance is a great idea for seniors if you don’t have the funds to pay for it. Aetna’s life insurance can help your loved ones pay for your funeral so they don’t have to worry about finances while they're grieving.

The median cost for a funeral is almost $9,000, and the cost can increase with inflation. Whether you want a simple funeral or a more elaborate one, funeral insurance is a cost effective way to pay for it when your family isn’t able to.

We never recommend you prepay your funeral. If you can’t afford to save up for your funeral and you know your loved ones won’t be able to pay the bill, funeral insurance is the solution for you.

Aetna Life Insurance Application for Burial Insurance

If you’re interested in Aetna burial insurance, you’ll know whether you qualify for its level or modified plan based on your answers to the life insurance application questions.

The health questions section of the applications is divided into three parts:

• Part A: If you answer yes to any of these questions, you’re not eligible for Aetna Accendo final expense whole life insurance.

• Part B: If you answer yes to any questions in this section, you can qualify for the modified plan.

• Part C: If you answer yes to any questions in this section, you qualify for the standard plan. If you answer no to all application questions, you qualify for preferred.

Part A

1. Are you currently receiving home health or hospice care, or have been advised to be or currently confined to a hospital, skilled nursing facility, nursing home, psychiatric facility, or correctional facility?

2. Are you in a wheelchair or mobility scooter, or require assistance mentally or physically for any activities of daily living: bathing, dressing, eating, going to the bathroom, taking medications, or getting into or out of a bed or chair?

3. Have you been advised to receive kidney dialysis, require oxygen equipment for breathing assistance (except CPAP for sleep apnea), or to have any medical procedure, surgery, or diagnostic test that has not been started, completed or received results for, minus those related to HIV?

4. Have you ever been diagnosed with or tested positive for AIDS, HIV, or AIDS related complex (ARC)?

5. Have you ever been diagnosed with, received, or been advised for medication or treatment for ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, sickle cell anemia, Alzheimer’s, dementia, mental incapacity, pulmonary fibrosis, congestive heart failure, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, unoperated heart defects, or any terminal or end-stage disease?

6. Have you been diagnosed with, or received or advised to receive treatment for cancer, except basal or squamous cell skin cancer, in the last 2 years?

7. Have you ever been diagnosed with more than one form of cancer?

Part B

1. In the last 2 years, have you received treatment or medication for: 

1. Alcohol or drug abuse, used illegal drugs, been convicted or pleaded guilty to driving under the influence?

2. Liver or kidney disease?

3. Diabetes complications, such as insulin shock, diabetic coma, retinopathy, neuropathy, or nephropathy?

2. In the last year, have you received or been advised to receive treatment for angina, heart attack, cardiomyopathy, any other circulatory or heart procedure or surgery, aneurysm, brain tumor, stroke, or transient ischemic attack (TIA)?

Part C

1. In the last 2 years, have you been diagnosed, received, or been advised to receive treatment for angina, heart attack, cardiomyopathy, any other circulatory or heart procedure or surgery, aneurysm, brain tumor, stroke, or transient ischemic attack (TIA)?

2. Have you ever been diagnosed, received, or been advised to receive treatment for systemic lupus (SLE), multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, COPD, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or any other chronic respiratory disease or condition?

Aetna Life Insurance Costs

Aetna’s life insurance costs are competitive, but not so competitive that we recommend them over other insurance companies. Here are a few companies we recommend for seniors with competitive pricing.

Liberty Bankers Life

Not only for seniors, Liberty Bankers Life offers final expense insurance to adults as young as 18. It also has generous guidelines and some of the most lenient height and weight guidelines, great for those seniors who are overweight or have other health problems. 

If you’re looking for a family life insurance plan at a great price, Liberty Bankers child and grandchild rider can insure your entire family for just pennies a day!

Prosperity Life Group

Prosperity Life Group has the same payout as Aetna’s Accendo modified death benefit plan. Like Liberty Bankers Life, Prosperity has generous underwriting guidelines, so you might get a better rate here than with Aetna. 

It will also approve adults as young as 18 and will give an immediate death benefit to an organ transplant recipient as long as it's been over 2 years since the transplant.

Mutual of Omaha

One of the best rates you can get with a standard senior final expense plan is with Mutual of Omaha, though it only offers up to $25,000 in coverage. Most claims are paid within 24 hours of approval, which is great considering one constant complaint with Aetna is its long claims processing time, as you’ll see below.

Aetna Life Insurance Reviews and Ratings

Most of the reviews and ratings for Aetna are for its health insurance offerings, but you can still get an idea of how the company operates and consumer’s perceptions of its life insurance service and expectations of the claims process.

Aetna Life Insurance Reviews and Ratings: Trustpilot

After 45 reviews, Aetna received a bad rating with Trustpilot, earning just 1.5 out of 5 stars. Most reviews fall into the bad category at 91%, with 5% in the poor category and only 4% giving Aetna an excellent rating.

Many customers advise of terrible claims service for its employer health insurance and Medicare products. Claims denied when they shouldn’t be, customer service reps being rude and unhelpful, long reimbursement times, and HR departments having to spend hours filing and fielding grievances for incorrect EOBs (explanation of benefits) and errors in billing.

Aetna Life Insurance Reviews and Ratings: BBB

Although Aetna is one of the oldest insurance companies in the country, it's not accredited by the Better Business Bureau. It has an A+ rating with the BBB, but only a 1.05 out of 5 stars after 139 customer reviews. Aetna has had 776 complaints filed with the BBB in the last 3 years, with 329 closed in the last year. That’s a lot of customer complaints!

Aetna AM Best Rating

Another metric to consider when choosing a life insurance company is its financial strength rating. This rating shows the company’s ability to meet its contractual obligations, including paying out life insurance claims. The better its rating, the better it can handle large claim payouts. 

Aetna’s AM Best rating is an A, which is an excellent rating. Not the best, which is an A++, but certainly not the worst. This shows Aetna has a decent ability to pay out claims when the time comes.

Aetna Life Insurance NAIC Complaint Index

You can also compare insurance companies against its competitors using its NAIC complaint index. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners complaint index is always a 1.00. Aetna’s NAIC complaint index is 1.05, showing that it gets about the same number of complaints expected as the industry average. It's surprising Aetna’s complaint index isn’t higher, given how many complaints are shown elsewhere.

Is Aetna Good Insurance?

Overall, Aetna is not good insurance for seniors, even if you qualify for it. One of the biggest benefits to Aetna senior life insurance is that it doesn’t use height and weight guidelines to qualify for coverage. 

You can visit aetnaseniorproducts.com to check it out for yourself. 

Although this is great for overweight seniors who may struggle to get coverage elsewhere, Aetna’s track record with claims and billing make it a poor choice for seniors needing a company with a smooth claims process for when the Good Lord calls you home. 

Whether you’re overweight or just need help to find the right coverage for your health concerns, call us at Final Expense Direct. We work with some of the best final expense insurance companies with different guidelines and requirements. We can get you covered no matter how poor your health is. 

Conclusion

Although Aetna has a long track record in health insurance, its customer reviews paint a poor picture of a company not willing to help once they’ve got you insured. When it comes to life insurance for seniors, you want to spend your hard earned money on a company you know has great customer service and an easy claims process to help your beneficiary process your death and get the money they’re entitled to. At Final Expense Direct, we work with adults of all ages, helping to get you the coverage you need with some of the top insurance companies in the industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Aetna the Same as MetLife?

No, Aetna is not the same as MetLife. Though they offer a similar family of insurance products, they are different companies.

How Do I File With Aetna Life Insurance Claims?

To file an Aetna life insurance claim, you can call the customer service department at 1-866-292-3374. You will have to provide a copy of the death certificate and fill out a proof of death claim form.

Is Aetna Life Insurance the Same as Funeral Insurance or Burial Insurance?

Yes, Aetna life insurance is the same as funeral insurance or burial insurance. These names refer to final expense insurance, which is a whole life policy that pays for final expenses when the insured dies.

Is Aetna the Same as Continental/CVS/Accendo?

Yes, Aetna is the same as Continental/CVS/Accendo. They are all under the same umbrella as part of the CVS Health family of companies.