American General's new LTCI product approved for sale in California

American General Life Companies (American General), Houston, has announced today that its new long-term care insurance product, American General LTC, has been approved for sale in California. The American General LTC^SM product, designed to meet consumers' growing demand for asset protection in a post-recession economy, features a Shared Care Benefit Rider, which creates a separate third pool of benefits that can be used by either spouse after their own benefits have been exhausted; a built-in cash benefit to help cover expenses such as care from a family member; and graded premium options to make 3% or 5% compound inflation protection more affordable.

To make it easy to apply for long-term care insurance, American General has developed a streamlined process – LTC LaunchPad – that automatically populates the application forms based on the illustration and a brief questionnaire, and shortens the agent's requirements for field underwriting. A traditional application process is also available.

American General LTC, now approved for sale in 46 states, including California, also offers:

• Benefit amounts of $100,000 to $1 million rather than benefit time periods, so consumers know exactly how much of their assets they are protecting
• A monthly benefit, rather than daily benefit
• A calendar-day elimination period (to be satisfied once per lifetime), rather than a service-day elimination period
• A Stay at Home Support Benefit (10% of maximum lifetime benefit for home modification, durable medical equipment, respite care, hospice care and caregiver training, payable during the elimination period)
• The ability to pay both initial and ongoing premium payments by credit card (with American Express, MasterCard or Visa), as well as direct bill or automatic bank draft
• A full suite of optional benefits.

For more information, visit www.americangeneralLTC.com.