Financial strength
AA.M. Best · Excellent (Jul 2025)
The quiet contender. A 115-year-old mutual that most people have never heard of, NGL kept selling standalone long-term care when the giants fled — and for couples buying together, its pricing can be dramatically cheaper than the big names. In February 2026 it relaunched its product under a pointed name: HonestLTC.
Honest, flexible, policyholder-owned coverage with no shareholders demanding profit — competitive benefit periods, strong couples options, and pay-in-full or 10-year payment choices so you're not paying premiums into your 90s.
The mutual structure is a real advantage — there's no shareholder pressure to cut benefits or push rate increases — and NGL's joint-life pricing for couples is genuinely, sometimes strikingly, cheaper than New York Life or Northwestern. The honest caveats: it's smaller and less known, carries an A rather than A++ rating, has a limited public track record on the brand-new HonestLTC, and, being traditional LTC, its premiums still aren't guaranteed for life.
NGL entered the standalone market with EssentialLTC in 2016, built with input from veteran LTC specialists. In February 2026 it began rolling out HonestLTC — available in 34 states at launch, replacing EssentialLTC state by state — which shifts from a daily to a monthly benefit structure (more flexible for real-world care), adds an alternative-benefit feature, and introduces a 5% partner discount for individual policies. Effective January 1, 2026, NGL also converted to a mutual holding-company structure, keeping policyholders in ownership and control.
A distinctive NGL feature is its payment flexibility: beyond lifetime pay, it offers a 10-year paid-up option and even a single-premium option, so you can fully fund the policy while you're still working and never face a premium bill in retirement — a meaningful hedge against the rate-increase risk that defines this category.
For couples applying together, independent specialists have repeatedly flagged NGL's joint-life pricing as far below the marquee carriers for comparable benefits — in some illustrations, a fraction of the cost of a lifetime-pay policy elsewhere. If two spouses in their 50s or 60s are buying together and want strong value, NGL belongs on the comparison, even though its brand recognition doesn't match Mutual of Omaha's or Northwestern's.
The bottom line: NGL is the value play among the standalone survivors — a policyholder-owned mutual with unusually competitive couples pricing and paid-up funding options that neutralize much of the rate-hike worry. Weigh its A rating and thinner public track record against that value, confirm HonestLTC is approved and available in your state, and get a joint-life quote before you assume a bigger name is your only option.