MetLife Health Insurance Company
People familiar with the Snoopy sponsored TV ads for this insurance provider might be surprised if they start looking for the MetLife Health Insurance Company. This is because, although MetLife is a well know insurance company for life insurance, home insurance, and some health related insurance products, the company does not provide a standard health insurance policy.
Metropolitan Health Insurance Company is legally known as Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and commonly known as MetLife, Inc. It is also known for its advertising relationship with Snoopy and the PEANUTS® gang, whose contract remains in force until 2012. Although Metropolitan Health Insurance Company is not a health insurance provider, MetLife does provide auto insurance, banking services, deferred annuities, dental assistance, disability income, financial planning, home insurance, income annuities, IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts), life insurance, long term care insurance, and mutual funds and brokerage.
Read through this MetLife Health Insurance review article, browse through the ratings and reviews of MetLife Insurance at the bottom of this page (left by actual MetLife customers), and then enter your zip into the box on the side of this page to compare quotes from top health insurance companies online!
Here is some background into the MetLife Insurance Company and information on the health insurance related products they do handle.
History of MetLife
MetLife has been offering various insurance products for close to 150 years. Up until the year 2000 MetLife was a mutual insurance company, meaning that the company was owned in part by MetLife policyholders, but now is a stock insurance company and is traded on the NYSE. MetLife is an extremely large insurance company and one of its goals is to have over 100 million MetLife policyholders by the year 2010.
Although National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company started out in 1863 insuring Civil War sailors and soldiers for war disabilities, accidents, and sickness, it struggled for five years before changing its focus to life insurance. Because of its success in the metropolitan district of New York City, the company changed its name to Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The business continued to struggle with challenges until 1879 when they implemented successful British methods of insurance programs.
By the next year they were selling up to seven hundred policies a day and by 1909 they were one of the nation’s largest insurers. In 1909 they also started distributing health publications, starting with “A War Upon Consumption” to educate people that were at risk for tuberculosis. By the end of 1979, MetLife directed its focus toward group insurance, personal insurance, investments, and pension. The acquisition of Travelers Life & Annuity in 2005 made MetLife the largest insurer of individual life policies in the United States. In 2005, they also obtained the international insurance business from Citigroup.
Headquartered in New York, MetLife currently has 70 million customers, and strong financial ratings that include an A+ from A.M. Best Company, AA from Fitch, Aa2 from Moody’s Investors Service, and AA- from Standard & Poor’s. In addition to its financial ratings, MetLife has received various recognitions including Working Mother magazine’s “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers”, which it received seven years in a row. In 2005 Diversity Inc named it one of the “Top 50 Companies for Diversity” and in 2006 it was rated one of the “Top 30 Companies for Executive Women” by the National Association for Female Executives.
MetLife Business Insurance Products
Businesses can purchase a host of group benefits, including packages designed for small and mid-size companies. Available options include group auto and home insurance, group dental, group disability, and group term life products. Group permanent life products have a choice of Group Variable Universal Life (GVUL) and Group Universal Life (GUL). You can also purchase Group Accidental Death & Dismemberment, business travel accident insurance, and employer sponsored long term care insurance. MetLife also offers Welfare Benefit Funding, which are services for post retirement needs that include tax assistance, accounting, actuarial, and benefits needs.
MetLife Long Term Care Insurance
While it is important to have a basic health insurance policy to cover things like office visits, prescriptions and hospital stays, that type of plan is not meant to cover all of the needs a person or family will have. Two products offered by MetLife are designed to act as supplemental coverage in addition to a basic policy as described above. These are long-term care insurance and disability income insurance.
If you do not have employee sponsored Long Term Care insurance plan, you can purchase it individually. Statistically, 70% of people over 65 years in age at some point will require long term care. Also available for individuals are policies for Term Life, Whole Life, Universal Life, Variable Universal Life, and Survivorship Life insurance. Term Life Insurance is purchased for a set time, or term, and depending on your age can be bought for 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. Term Life coverage ends when the term ends or it can be converted to permanent coverage. MetLife offers a package that combines the purchase of Term Life with Disability.
Long-term care has become more important as people are living longer. In fact, the average life expectancy once a person hits 65 is another 18 years or even more. The result is that more of these older seniors require services like assisted living, nursing homes, adult day centers, hospice or in-home care than ever before. While a basic health insurance policy does not cover these situations, long-term care insurance does.
MetLife’s long-term care policies can also cover things like home health aides, physical therapy and in home nurse visits. The key requirement for a policy to pay for the above needs is that they are necessary for the person to continue the “activities of daily living” which include bathing and hygiene, eating, mobility, dressing and similar activities that will be outlined in each plan, and often by a specific state.
According to MetLife, the national average cost for a semiprivate room in a nursing home just three years ago was $183 per day or $66,795 per year. The national average rate for a home health care aid was $19 per hour. Unless you know that you have the financial reserves to cover these costs, you need a back-up plan. Even a six month stay in an extended care facility as the result of a car accident can have devastating financial consequences for many people.
While Medicare or Medicaid may help, they only go so far. For instance, Medicare may, under some circumstances, pay for a three day hospital stay and up to 20 days in a nursing facility. You may be eligible for a co-pay plan on days 21 to 99. After 100 days, Medicare does not pay any portion of these services. The younger a person is when purchasing a long-term care policy, the lower the cost of coverage is likely to be. Ironically, the older you are the more likely it is that you will need them.
MetLife Disability Income Insurance
Another type of supplemental health insurance coverage is meant to cover your needs if you are unable to work because of an injury or illness. It’s estimated that one third of the working population in this country will experience a disability of that will prevent them from working for 90 days or more, before they turn 65 years old. Sadly, only about 20% of Americans have disability coverage.
The problem is that when an accident or illness of this nature occurs, the average time spent out of work is over two years. That means two years of lost or reduced wages, increased medical bills and prescriptions costs, travel time and gas money and additional costs for caregivers for the disabled person, or the people they are used to caring for.
In order to determine what type of coverage best meets your needs, you need to ask your self some questions. Can I afford to be out of work for a year or two and still meet by family’s needs? If I become unable to care for myself is there someone else who can do so? What financial results will there be if I need long-term care or if I lose my job?
Disability Income is insurance that provides a benefit that replaces part of your income should you become ill or injured and unable to work for a period of time. Statistically, three in ten workers will become disabled before retiring and the average disability lasts for 2½ years. Disabilities, however, can last from months to years and sometimes are permanent. It’s recommended that anyone who doesn’t have the financial means to deal with this loss consider this type of coverage.
While many employers have long term disability plans, they usually only cover up to 60% of your salary and the benefits received are taxable. Private disability insurance can help fill in some of the financial gap that is not covered by your work place plan.
Social Security only pays benefits for disabilities that are going to last a minimum of twelve months or end in death. Furthermore, Social Security disability benefits are only paid if you are rendered unable to work at all. MetLife, on the other hand, will cover you even if your injury or illness only lasts a few months and even if you are only unable to do your current job but still able to perform other job duties.
MetLife’s premium rates vary based on age, gender, height, and weight. Your health status will also be taken into consideration along with your tobacco use, your participation in high risk activities, and your occupation. Premiums will also be affected by the amount of benefit you select as well as the maximum benefit and any waiting periods considered for the policy.
No one likes to think about disability or death, but unfortunately, like all insurance, it needs to be considered before an illness or tragedy occurs. In fact, most people say that having this type of protection in place gives them a piece of mind that is well worth the cost. The best way to make that cost a manageable one is to compare your options before you buy. Fortunately, shopping for insurance is easy. To get started, simply enter your zip code above and start comparing quotes today.
Compare MetLife Health Insurance Quotes
Chances are, you already know that you want to have some sort of supplemental health coverage, you just don’t know if you can afford it. Or maybe, you really just need a comprehensive policy so the MetLife options aren’t right for you. A simple way to get rates on any coverage you need is just a mouse click away.
This webpage provides a free rate quote tool that is simple and convenient. Simply enter your zip code, answers some questions about your current health and needs, and you will receive quotes from providers who are qualified to offer the coverage you need right where you live. Then you can compare benefits and rates in order to find a premium and deductible that work for you.
Why not get the coverage you need before leaving your chair? Start comparing health insurance companies today!
“I do not recommend using MetLife for medical insurance. Having had experiences with different insurance providers, I find that MetLife is still using an outdated system to handle insurance records. In particular, they are still using the insured person’s SSN as ID in a time and age where identity theft is rampant.
For every physician you visit, you need to enter your DOB and ID, which ensures that your SSN and DOB appear together on the paper and computer records at every physician’s office you have ever visited, unnecessarily increasing the risks of identity theft for the insured parties.
After talking to their customer service, I find that they have no plan to update their antiquated system. Maybe, for our own protection, it is just better not to use MetLife.”