New York Life is the only remaining major long-term care insurer that both sells new standalone LTC policies today and runs an active repricing program on its legacy block. That dual status makes it different from every other carrier in this series: Genworth, John Hancock, Brighthouse, and others exited new sales and then began repricing their closed books. New York Life has been doing both simultaneously — and the repricing program on its older policy forms is, by state-filing evidence, just as significant as anything a closed-block carrier has produced.
The policies under pressure are the ILTC-4300 and ILTC-5000 series (and their nursing-home counterparts, INH-4300 and INH-5000), issued roughly between 1997 and 2004 under the company's comprehensive and nursing-home-only LTC contracts. These forms are no longer marketed. What makes the New York Life story distinctly worth reading for anyone holding one of these policies is what happened in the 2019 rate filing: NYL requested an 80% increase for policyholders under age 69 — and offered to make the policy permanently non-cancellable if the state approved the full amount. In most states, it did.
Carrier status — active seller, legacy block undergoing repricing
New York Life Insurance Company (NAIC 66915) continues to write new individual long-term care insurance under its current product lines — Secure Care, My Care, and the newer 3.0 and Mass Market forms. Annual rate stability certifications filed with the Virginia Bureau of Insurance in September 2025 (SERFF NWLT-134681631 for the Mass Market ICC18-LTCD form; NWLT-134686271 for the 3.0 forms 21073VA and 21084VA) confirm these products are stable: no rate increases requested or pending on current product lines as of late 2025.
The story for legacy policyholders is different. The ILTC-4300 and ILTC-5000 series were priced in an era when LTC actuarial assumptions — lapse rates, claim duration, mortality — proved significantly optimistic across the entire industry. New York Life's 2019 Pennsylvania filing (SERFF NWLT-131979666) states the driver plainly: "higher than expected policy persistency and higher projected claims." Lapses on these forms ran near 0.75%, versus 2.00% assumed at original pricing. The same lapse-rate failure drove repricing at Genworth, John Hancock, and every other major legacy carrier. New York Life's legacy block ran into the same wall — it just also kept a new-business growth engine running alongside it.
The two-wave rate increase history
The documented rate increase record on NYL's legacy block runs in two distinct waves, each affecting the ILTC-4300 and ILTC-5000 series with different magnitudes and age-band structures.
Wave 1 (2013–2015): The first increases
The first rate increase on the ILTC-4300 / INH-4300 block (pre-2001 policy forms) reached Virginia in early 2015: an average of 18.0% across approximately 3,381 Virginia policyholders, implemented over a 3-year phase-in. The age structure was issue-age-banded: issue age under 50 received the full 35% (phased); issue age 50 and above received 20.1% (phased); policyholders with attained age 74 or older received zero increase. Virginia's Bureau of Insurance cited a projected lifetime loss ratio of 71%, well above the regulatory minimum, confirming the actuarial justification.
A separate first increase on the post-2003 rate-stabilization block (ILTC-5000 / INH-5000) averaged 31.5% in Virginia — applied to a much smaller group of 289 Virginia policyholders on that form — with the same age-74+ carveout. Pennsylvania saw a first increase of approximately 20% on pre-2003 forms approved in September 2013, after NYL filed for 23.8%. Other states that show early wave-1 approvals in the California DOI rate history data include North Carolina (40% approved on ILTC-5000 NC forms in 2014) and Indiana (11.5% approved, well below the 40% requested, in late 2014).
| Year | State | Block | Requested | Approved | VA policyholders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Pennsylvania | Pre-2003 forms | 23.8% | 20% | — |
| 2014 | Indiana | ILTC-5000 series | 0–40% | 11.5% | — |
| 2014 | North Carolina | ILTC-5000 series | 0–40% | 40% | — |
| 2014 | New Mexico | ILTC-5000 series | 0–40% | 15% | — |
| 2015 | Virginia | Pre-2003 (ILTC-4300) | 0–40% | 18.0% avg | 3,381 |
| 2015 | Virginia | Post-2003 (ILTC-5000) | 0–40% | 31.5% avg | 289 |
Wave 2 (2019–2022): The 80% request and the non-cancellable offer
The second wave — NYL's "4.0" rate action — was filed in 2019 and approved state by state through 2022. The request was substantially larger: 80% for policyholders with attained age under 69, 45% for age 69–73, and 0% for age 74 and above. The Pennsylvania filing provides the most detailed public statement of what was on offer.
NYL attached an extraordinary condition: "If the full amount of our requested premium increase is approved, the company will update each policyholder's policy, via an endorsement, to be non-cancellable rather than guaranteed renewable." Non-cancellable means exactly what it says — the carrier cannot file another rate increase on that contract, ever. Policyholders in states that approved the full 80% would, in exchange for absorbing the largest increase NYL ever requested, receive permanent rate certainty going forward.
Most states approved the full request. The California DOI rate history data (covering filings through 2023) shows full 80% approvals across the overwhelming majority of states that acted on the ILTC-4300 and ILTC-5000 blocks. A handful of states approved materially less.
| State | Approval Year | Approved (ILTC-4300) | Approved (ILTC-5000) | Non-cancellable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most states (AK, AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DE, FL, HI, IA, ID, IL, KS, KY, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NH, NJ, NV, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, WA, WI, WY) | 2019–2022 | 80% | 80% | Yes — full amount approved |
| California | 2021 | 80% (pre-1999 forms); 15–40% (post-1999 forms) | 15% | Partial — depends on specific form and issue date |
| Massachusetts | 2021 | 40% | — | No — partial approval, remains guaranteed renewable |
| Minnesota | 2020 | 80% | 34.17% | Partial — depends on form |
| Louisiana | 2020–2022 | 80% | 20–50% | Partial — depends on form |
| Nebraska | 2020–2022 | 80% | 40% | Partial — depends on form |
| Georgia | 2020/2023 | 12% (2020); 60.71% (2023) | 12% | No — partial approvals, remains guaranteed renewable |
| District of Columbia | 2021–2022 | 10% | 10% | No — partial approval, remains guaranteed renewable |
| New York | 2021 | 80% (certain forms) | — | Yes — full amount approved on applicable forms |
Source: California Department of Insurance Rate History Data (NAIC 66915, 2023); Pennsylvania SERFF NWLT-131979666. Non-cancellable status applies where the full requested increase was approved per NYL's stated condition. Policyholders should verify their specific form number and state endorsement status directly with NYL.
What the non-cancellable offer means in practice
The non-cancellable endorsement is the most significant policyholder-protection element in this filing record, and it is the one least discussed in general LTC rate-increase coverage. Here is the practical read:
If your state approved the full 80%: New York Life committed, in writing, to convert your ILTC-4300 or ILTC-5000 contract to non-cancellable. If you received and paid the full increase, you should have received an endorsement confirming the policy is now non-cancellable. That means no future premium increase on that contract — your rate is locked for the life of the policy.
If your state approved less than 80%: Your contract remains guaranteed renewable. NYL retained the right to file additional increases in the future. Policyholders in Georgia (12% approved in 2020, 60.71% on some forms in 2023), the District of Columbia (10%), Massachusetts (40%), and those holding ILTC-5000 forms in Minnesota, Nebraska, Louisiana, and California are in this category for at least some forms.
One key exception: Policyholders with attained age 74 or above at the time of the Wave 2 implementation received no increase — and the filing states that if a policyholder was age 75 or older at the time of the previous Wave 1 increase, they are excluded from all future increases on that contract regardless of state. These policyholders effectively have rate certainty without needing the non-cancellable endorsement, because NYL has explicitly carved them out.
The practical check: your declarations page shows your policy form number (ILTC-4300, ILTC-5000, INH-4300, INH-5000, or a state-specific variant) and your state of issue. If your form is in this series, your state approved the full 80%, and you were under age 74 at Wave 2 implementation, you should hold a non-cancellable endorsement. NYL's policyholder services (800-723-5555) can confirm the status of any specific contract.
Why the age-74 carveout exists
Both Wave 1 and Wave 2 systematically excluded policyholders above a certain attained age. The Pennsylvania filing explains the reasoning directly: "Although our analysis indicates that a rate increase is necessary at all ages, we have decided to reduce the increase for any of our insureds who have attained age of 69 to 73 and forgo the increase for any of our insureds who have attained age 74 and above as of January 1, 2020. The company will be absorbing the cost of reducing the increase for those policyholders who have reached attained age 69."
The practical logic is the same one several state regulators apply independently: a very large premium increase on an 80-year-old policyholder who is approaching potential claim age is more likely to produce a lapse (and then a contingent nonforfeiture election) than actual sustained premium. The expected value to the carrier of collecting a large increase from a very old policyholder is reduced; the regulatory optics of imposing one are poor. NYL chose to absorb that cost rather than fight it.
Current products — the rate-stable side of NYL's LTC business
The contrast with the legacy block is stark. NYL's current product lines — Secure Care (policy forms ICC18-LTCD and variants), My Care, and the 3.0 series (forms 21073VA, 21084VA) — are filing annual rate stability certifications with state regulators, not rate increase filings. The Virginia certifications filed in September 2025 were reviewed and accepted as "Filed" by the Bureau of Insurance in November 2025 and January 2026 respectively. No rate increases are pending on these products as of that date.
This separation matters for anyone evaluating a new NYL LTC policy today: the current products are priced under the post-2010 actuarial frameworks that incorporated the lapse and claim-duration experience lessons from the earlier generation. They carry no rate increase history. The repricing story described in this piece belongs entirely to the legacy block issued between roughly 1997 and 2004.
What it means for in-force policyholders
- Verify your non-cancellable status first. If you hold an ILTC-4300 or ILTC-5000 series policy issued in a state that approved the full 80% Wave 2 increase, and you were under 74 at Wave 2 implementation, you should hold a non-cancellable endorsement. Confirm this directly with NYL before assuming further increases are possible. If confirmed non-cancellable, your rate is locked — the decision becomes a standard keep-vs-drop analysis against a fixed premium.
- If you're in a partial-approval state, future increases remain possible. Georgia, DC, Massachusetts, and certain form-state combinations in Minnesota, Nebraska, Louisiana, and California saw partial approvals. These policyholders are still on guaranteed-renewable contracts. The Wave 1 and Wave 2 history suggests NYL will file again on these forms if the actuarial gap persists.
- The age-74 carveout may mean you received no increase. If you were 74 or older at Wave 2 implementation (January 2020 for most states), NYL filed no increase against your contract in that round, and the filing language indicates policyholders above that threshold are exempt from future increases on applicable forms as well. Confirm with NYL.
- The options when a letter arrives are the same as any other carrier. If you are in a partial-approval state and receive a future increase notice, the response framework is unchanged: the five options inside a rate-hike letter apply. The contingent nonforfeiture window may be triggered if cumulative increases cross the NAIC §28 threshold.
- Active-carrier status does not change the legacy-block calculus. NYL's continued new-business activity is strategically and financially positive for the company overall — but it does not subsidize the legacy block or insulate legacy policyholders from actuarially justified rate increases. The legacy and current blocks are managed separately.
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Coverage scope
This piece covers the ILTC-4300, INH-4300, ILTC-5000, and INH-5000 legacy policy series issued between approximately 1997 and 2004. The rate history data draws primarily from the California Department of Insurance Rate History file (NAIC 66915, reporting through 2023), supplemented by Virginia SCC SERFF rate summaries and the Pennsylvania SERFF filing NWLT-131979666. Additional state actions from 2024 onward are not captured in the CA DOI data and may exist; this record reflects the filings documented through that date.
New York Life's current product lines (Secure Care, My Care, 3.0 series) are not covered here — they carry no rate increase history and are a separate underwriting and product generation from the legacy block described above. This is the latest entry in the Long Term Care Desk's Rate Tracker series, joining Genworth, John Hancock, Brighthouse, Mutual of Omaha, MassMutual, and Transamerica.
Primary sources
- California Department of Insurance. New York Life Insurance Company Long-Term Care Rate History (NAIC 66915). Rate History Data File, 2023. insurance.ca.gov — source for state-by-state approval data across the legacy ILTC-4300 and ILTC-5000 blocks, 2014–2023.
- Virginia State Corporation Commission Bureau of Insurance. Long Term Care Insurance Rate Request Summary — SERFF NWLT-128855863. Approved March 26, 2015. scc.virginia.gov — source for Wave 1 pre-2003 block: 18.0% VA average, 3,381 VA policyholders, first increase, age-banding detail.
- Virginia State Corporation Commission Bureau of Insurance. Long Term Care Insurance Rate Request Summary — SERFF NWLT-128855883. Approved March 24, 2015. scc.virginia.gov — source for Wave 1 post-2003 block: 31.5% VA average, 289 VA policyholders, first increase.
- Pennsylvania Insurance Department. SERFF Filing NWLT-131979666 — New York Life Insurance Company 2019 Rate Increase (4.0). Filed November 1, 2019. pa.gov — source for Wave 2 structure (80%/45%/0% age-banding), non-cancellable offer language, prior-increase history on these forms.
- Virginia SCC Bureau of Insurance. SERFF NWLT-134681631 (NYL Mass Market Annual Rate Certification, Sept. 2025) and NWLT-134686271 (3.0 Annual Rate Certification, Sept. 2025). scc.virginia.gov — source for current-product rate stability status.