Aetna Life Insurance Company (Aetna)

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One carrier we get questions about is Aetna Life Insurance Company (ALIC), though, as independent agents, we don’t offer their product.

The reason is because they are sold through the workplace, and many American workers are looking to compare Aetna’s rates with the major life insurance companies across the United States.

Of course, even while most consumers are primarily interested in paying the least amount of premium, regardless of insurance company, we know there is much more to the story than price.

Our Aetna Life Insurance Company review will bring this to light. As always, do your due diligence before making any purchase of life insurance.

If you are strictly looking to compare rates, we suggest this page, where you can see actual life insurance rates from top carriers nationwide broken down by age, gender and death benefit amount.

If you are looking to learn more about Aetna, continue below.

Our Aetna Life Insurance Company (Aetna) Review

American Continental Life Insurance Company logoGetting their start in 1853, and now for over 165 years, Aetna has been doing business as Aetna Life Insurance Company, a name inspired by Mt. Etna, a highly active volcano located in Sicily.

It’s built a strong reputation under this name, and is most commonly known at the household level for its health insurance and other benefits, not so much its life insurance.

One of Aetna’s first major triumphs was offering a participating life insurance policy, where the policyholders were given dividends, which was most common to other mutual life insurance companies at the time.

Within two years, they exceeded $1 million in annual revenue for the first time.

By 1891, Aetna was offering its first accident policy, the first type of policy they would offer which wasn’t an annuity or life insurance policy. Within the next decade, they would also add heath insurance to their suite of products.

Liability, collision, burglary and other types of insurance were soon to follow.

Another 20 years later saw Aetna keeping their drive in adding new insurance products, and this led to an addition of group life, which, even 100 years later, remains as a foundational piece of their current business in the health care industry.

In the mid-1900’s, Aetna would become the first insurance company to put advertisements on TV, a significant move in insurance marketing.

They would continue to expand nationwide, and even internationally as they would acquire Excelsior Life Insurance Company, who was based in Canada.

In 1968, Aetna was added to the NYSE, allowing them to continue their growth. Within two decades, they would exceed 1,000,000 memberships in their health program.

However, they would soon close the sale of health plans to individuals, and continue only with group plans.

And, just before the turn of the millennium, it would merge and acquire several health providers, including U.S. Healthcare, NYLCare Health, and Prudential Healthcare.

Aetna’s Financials

Today, Aetna has grown to nearly $2.4 billion in annual net income, with revenue greater than $60 billion.

ALIC has secured excellent ratings from all four rating agencies, scoring an “A” from A.M. Best, an “AA-” from Fitch, an “A2” from Moody’s and, finally, an “A+” from Standard & Poor’s. This results in a Comdex score of 86, putting them near the top 10% of all life insurance companies on the aggregate.

While Aetna holds an “A” rating from the Better Business Bureau, they do have an enormous number of complaints, totaling nearly 600 in the past year.

Of course, they also have an enormous number of customers, and nearly half are simply billing related issues. Among the remainder, problems with products/services are the majority.

Products By Aetna

There are definitely advantages to using Aetna’s life insurance program if it’s offered through your workplace.

Among them, group-style underwriting, which is little or no underwriting, giving you excellent access to a policy no matter your health (depending on the size of the company offering the benefit).

These guaranteed policies require no medical exam, and are typically cheaper than other graded options on the market.

They offer an Accelerated Death Benefit Rider, a conversion choice should your policy end, Waiver of Premium so you can keep your policy in force should disability occur, and access to their Aetna Life Essentials℠ support line, which offers assistance in helping those who require financial, legal, emotional and physical resources at all parts of their lives.

Aetna offers a basic life insurance policy, a basic dependent life insurance policy for those who are direct dependents of the employee, supplemental life insurance to cover gaps in death benefit need for both the employee and their dependents, as well as Accidental Death & Dismemberment policies.

Our Conclusion

While Aetna does have several advantages to workers, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to save on premium should you go with a private life insurance company, especially if you are in good health and can qualify.

If you want to skip the exam, just as you can through your employer, seek out a no exam life insurance company who can assist you. Again, even though you could get a comparable product through Aetna and your job, you’ll get access to a wider range of policy benefits, high death benefits, and still pay less on average.

While Aetna Life Insurance Company does well with its specialties, it is best utilized by someone who is not in great health and already has access within their current occupation.

Otherwise, stick to Sagicor, Assurity, Banner, or one of the many no exam life insurance companies.

Aetna Life Insurance Company (Aetna)

Website
aetna.com
Phone
(800) 273-0123
Address
151 Farmington Ave.
Hartford, CT 06105

Company Name (and subsidiaries)

  • Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company
  • Aetna Senior Supplemental Insurance
  • American Continental Insurance Company (Subsidiary)

Author:

Jason Fisher

Jason Fisher is the founder and CEO of BestLifeRates.org, LLC. and a multi-state licensed life insurance agent who has helped over a million Americans seek out affordable coverage, compare quotes, or get their family and businesses covered.