Securian SecureCare: they send you cash and let you run your own life.

Cash indemnity — the flexibility nobody talks about until claim time

Most hybrid policies reimburse. That means bills, receipts, provider credentials, and someone at a desk deciding whether your expense qualified. SecureCare just sends the money. Pay your son-in-law to drive you. Pay for a wheelchair ramp. Pay a neighbor. Hire an unlicensed aide you trust. It's your cash.

Everything is guaranteed, not illustrated

Premium guaranteed level. Benefit guaranteed. Death benefit guaranteed. Return of premium guaranteed. There is no 'assuming current dividend scale' asterisk on the core promises. In a product category full of moving parts, that's rare and it matters.

Return of premium you can actually use

Up to 100% of premium back, depending on design and timing. This is the answer to 'what if I need the money?' — a question that stops more people from acting than the price does.

Benefits from day one — no waiting for the policy to season

Full monthly benefit is available immediately after the elimination period. You don't have to own it for ten years for it to work.

Care anywhere, including informal family care

Home care, assisted living, memory care, nursing home, adult day care — and because it's cash, family caregivers can be paid without jumping through licensing hoops that reimbursement policies demand.

Joint coverage for couples

A single policy can cover both spouses with a shared pool. For couples where only one is likely to need extended care, this is often more efficient than buying two separate policies.

Strong, stable carrier

Securian Financial (Minnesota Life) has been in business since 1880, is mutual holding company owned, and stayed in the LTC space while dozens of carriers ran for the exit.

Real inflation options

3% or 5%, simple or compound, applied to the monthly benefit. Buy the compound option young and the benefit at 85 looks nothing like the benefit at 55.

The pool has a bottom — maximum seven years

This is the honest limitation. If you're facing a 12-year Alzheimer's claim, a seven-year pool ends in year seven and you self-fund the rest. OneAmerica Asset Care can be built with lifetime benefits; SecureCare cannot. If long-duration dementia is your specific fear, be aware of the ceiling.

Underwriting is tighter than some competitors

Securian looks closely at cognitive health, mobility, diabetes control, and cardiac history. Cases that sail through OneAmerica sometimes get rated or declined here. If your health is complicated, we'd shop it before falling in love with the illustration.

Qualified money is awkward

IRA and 401(k) dollars are not a natural fit. There's no purpose-built IRA funding design like OneAmerica's. You can still do it by taking distributions and paying tax, but that's a workaround, not a feature.

It's a big check for a risk you may never use

Roughly a third of people never need extended care at all. You're buying certainty, not expected value. The return-of-premium and death benefit soften this a lot — but it's still real money leaving your control.

90-day elimination period

You pay for the first 90 calendar days yourself. Depending on your area and care level, budget $20,000–$30,000 of exposure before benefits start.

Modest cash value growth

This is not an accumulation product. Cash value grows conservatively. If you want your money to work hard while it waits, this isn't the tool for that job — the payoff is the leverage, not the interest.

Inflation protection costs real money

Adding 5% compound can raise the premium substantially — or, for the same premium, meaningfully shrink the day-one benefit. Most people underestimate how much this trade-off matters at younger ages.