Group Chronic Illness Rider

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Chronic Illness Rider?
This rider allows you to use some of your Group Term Life Insurance death benefit to help mitigate costs associated with chronic illness. Essentially, the rider can make your term life insurance go further as you can collect living benefits if you suffer a qualifying chronic illness.

Who is eligible to apply?
Members and their lawful spouse or domestic partner ages [xx-xx] may apply.

How much of my life insurance amount can I use for chronic illness?
You can use up to 50% of your Group Term Life Insurance benefit amount (not to exceed $500,000) in the event of a qualifying chronic illness.

Do my beneficiaries still receive money when I die?
Beneficiaries are entitled to receive the life insurance benefit amount in force at time of your death, minus any amount used for qualifying chronic conditions.

What illnesses are covered?
The Chronic Illness Rider pays a benefit when you are certified by a licensed healthcare practitioner to have a chronic illness with which you are not able to perform two of the six activities of daily living (bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting, and transferring) or have a permanent severe cognitive impairment requiring substantial supervision.

How would I file a claim?
You submit your claim form with certification from a licensed healthcare practitioner that you have suffered a qualifying chronic illness or permanent severe cognitive impairment. There is a 90 day waiting period for filing a claim and annual recertification by a licensed healthcare practitioner is required.

Can I add the rider to my existing coverage?
Yes. Eligible members and their lawful spouse or domestic partner, can add the rider to existing Group Term Life Insurance.

What are the medical underwriting requirements?
The Chronic Illness Rider underwriting consists of a set of health questions. Applicants age 50 and over who are requesting $100,000 or more of Group Term Life Insurance are required to answer health questions by phone.

How long does the rider remain in effect?
The rider can remain in effect until age 80. It ends earlier if maximum benefit period is reached, or you discontinue the rider or underlying Group Term Life Insurance.

How is this benefit distributed?
Benefits are payable annually for up to four years with recertification each year by a healthcare practitioner. Distributions are designed to be paid over time to minimize potential tax implications to the recipient.

Are the living benefits of the Chronic Illness Rider taxable?
Receipts of the accelerated benefit are not intended to be taxable. However, you may want to seek assistance from a personal tax advisor.

CIR MARKETING MATERIALS - Approved Copy Ideas.
(For use in whole or part in brochures, website, or other materials.)

Live Your Best Life. You've taken steps to secure a great life—and intend to keep on enjoying it to the fullest. But let’s say an unforeseen illness arises that impacts your daily living and ability to work. You would still need to be able to meet your number-one priority: taking care of yourself and your family. The Chronic Illness Rider (CIR) can allow you to do that.

Live your life(style)—with a living benefit. With the Chronic Illness Rider, you have help to maintain your best possible standard of living for your family when dealing with a qualifying medical issue. That's because it allows you to accelerate up to 50 percent of your Group Term Life Insurance.

There when you need it. Whether you face lost wages, increased medical or household assistance costs, our Chronic Illness Rider lets you not only take advantage of the accelerated death benefit while living, but any unused amount of your life insurance that remains will go to your beneficiaries later on. All to help provide sustained financial support when it can make a big difference.

Be comfortable. Medical care and daily living costs can be more expensive than people think. Adding the Chronic Illness Rider to Group Term Life Insurance may help you be better prepared to meet the significant costs caused by a loss of income and the rising cost of medical care.

Benefits payable for up to 4 years. You can receive benefits for up to four years in annual payments if you suffer a qualifying chronic illness. Spacing distributions can not only offer extended cash to help you live more comfortably, it is designed to minimize tax implications from receiving this payment.

Benefits that work together. You work hard to take care of yourself and your family. Not only can the Chronic Illness Rider offer benefits while living, it also works together with the Terminal Illness benefit built in to your Group Term Life Insurance. This benefit provides an additional 25% of your life insurance while living if you suffer a separate terminal illness later on. This means together, if needed, you could receive up to 75% of your group term life insurance amount to help pay for your care while you are alive and may need it most.

Andy was smart. So are you.* Andy added Chronic Illness Rider to his $600,000 Group Term Life Insurance coverage. In total, he had $300,000 (50%) of his Group Term Life Insurance he could access if he became chronically ill.

Years later he was diagnosed with a qualifying chronic illness, Andy began using his CIR benefit—drawing $75,000 a year for four years for a total of $300,000. His decision to purchase Chronic Illness Rider coverage provided money to help support his care, while still leaving his family the remaining $300,000 tax-free benefit at the time of his death. *This is a hypothetical example.

Live confidently. Your loved ones matter more than anything to you. Helping cover the cost of your own care—while providing for them later—can make all the difference. Live life to its fullest. Consider adding Chronic Illness Rider a part of your journey. The Chronic Illness Rider can offer financial protection if you experience a chronic illness in the future.

It’s flexible—and all yours. The Chronic Illness Rider enables you to accelerate up to 50 percent of your group term life insurance, up to $500,000, for qualifying illnesses. Your beneficiaries receive any remaining amount after your death. Plus, the Rider can be purchased with or added to your plan's Group Term Life Insurance.

Avoid the financial hit. In the United States, medical debt is the #¹ cause of bankruptcy.1 The costs of medical and home care—not to mention the end of your earning years—can harm your finances.

Certification requirements. A licensed health care practitioner must certify that you cannot perform at least two of the six activities of daily living (bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting, and transferring) or have a permanent severe cognitive impairment requiring substantial supervision to be eligible for benefits. You may file a claim after a 90-day waiting period. Annual re-certification is required to receive benefits for up to four years.

There for you—when you need it most.

Apply for the Chronic Illness Rider to help plan for the “what-ifs” in life. In the event of a chronic illness, whether you face lost wages or increased medical and household assistance costs, taking the right steps today can make a big difference to you and your family's lifestyle and financial well-being.

NOTE TO CLIENTS

The following disclosure must be added to all Chronic Illness Rider Marketing Materials:

This is a life insurance benefit that also gives you the option to accelerate some of the death benefit in the event that you are certified with a chronic illness as described in the certificate.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: This rider is not intended to be a federally tax-qualified long-term care insurance contract under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 7702B. Therefore, the premiums payable for this rider do not qualify as long-term care insurance premiums and are not deductible from gross income for federal income tax purposes. This rider, however, is subject to the federal per diem limits set forth in IRC Section 7702B. Under this rider, New York Life will not pay claimants more than the federal per diem limits. Assuming the amount you receive in the aggregate from all applicable policies does not exceed the federal per diem limits set forth in IRC Section 7702B, the benefits provided by the Chronic Illness Rider are intended to be excludable from federal gross income under Section 101 (g) of the IRC.

Receipt of an accelerated death benefit may affect eligibility for Medicaid or other government benefits or entitlements and may have income tax consequences. Accelerating benefits before applying for these programs, or while you are receiving government benefits, may affect your initial or continued eligibility. Clients can contact the appropriate social service agency (e.g., the Medicaid Unit of your local Department of Public Welfare or the Social Security Administration Office) for more information.

The acceleration is subject to life schedule reductions and is based on the amount of coverage that would be in force one year after the request for acceleration was approved. Receipt of the accelerated benefit may be taxable. The owner may want to seek assistance from a personal tax advisor.

¹Medical Bankruptcy and the Economy, The Balance, 1/20/2022.

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