By Marc Gilman
(800) 927-9326 |
OneAmerica and Nationwide are both major carriers in the hybrid long-term care space, and the most useful thing to understand before comparing them isn’t which one is “better” — it’s that both companies sell essentially the same two structures. Each offers a life-insurance-based LTC product and a separate annuity-based LTC product, built for the exact same fork in the road: do you want unused LTC protection to become a death benefit for heirs, or would you rather it become retirement income you control yourself?
Key Takeaways:
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Both carriers organize their LTC lineup around the same two chassis. OneAmerica offers Asset Care (whole life insurance) and a separate three-product Annuity Care portfolio. Nationwide offers CareMatters II and CareMatters Together (universal life insurance) and CareMatters Annuity (a fixed annuity).
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The life-insurance versions from both carriers work similarly: cash indemnity payments, a death benefit that protects the money if LTC is never needed, and a defined elimination period before benefits begin.
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The single biggest structural difference between the two carriers’ life-insurance products is benefit duration. Nationwide CareMatters II caps its benefit period around six to seven years; OneAmerica Asset Care can be configured with an unlimited, lifetime benefit period instead — a real distinction for anyone specifically concerned about a long-duration claim.
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Asset Care can also be issued as a single joint-life policy covering two people, each drawing their own monthly benefit from a shared pool — a distinctive structure among major hybrid life products.
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Nationwide’s CareMatters II specifically guarantees a residual death benefit of 20% of the original amount even if the LTC benefit is fully exhausted — a concrete, quantified guarantee worth comparing directly against whatever residual benefit OneAmerica’s Asset Care offers on a specific illustration.
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The annuity-based versions from both carriers use a similar leverage mechanic — Nationwide CareMatters Annuity provides 2 to 3 times the contract value in available LTC benefits depending on underwriting class, a multiplier structure comparable to what OneAmerica’s Annuity Care products are built around.
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The tax-free treatment on qualifying annuity withdrawals traces to a specific law: the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-280), Section 844, effective January 1, 2010 — the same legal basis behind genuinely tax-qualified hybrid annuity products generally, not something exclusive to either carrier.
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State availability varies by carrier and product, and matters immediately if you’re outside either carrier’s approved states — OneAmerica’s content is not currently approved for residents of California, Connecticut, DC, Florida, Kansas, New York, or Oregon.
The Real First Question: Which Chassis, Not Which Carrier
Before comparing OneAmerica to Nationwide directly, the more useful comparison is the one already established between IUL-based and annuity-based LTC structures generally: a life-insurance-chassis product accelerates a death benefit and can extend beyond it depending on the specific rider design, while an annuity-chassis product draws down the contract’s own accumulated value. Both OneAmerica and Nationwide sell into both categories, so “OneAmerica or Nationwide” is really two separate questions — which chassis fits your goals, and which carrier’s specific version of that chassis fits best.
OneAmerica’s Two Product Lines
OneAmerica brands its combined LTC lineup as the “Care Solutions” portfolio, and both products under that umbrella share the same core promises: guaranteed benefits and fixed premiums that don’t change through the life of the policy, along with the ability to tailor the monthly protection amount, coverage length, and available riders to the client.
Asset Care combines whole life insurance with long-term care benefits. You can access the policy’s value for qualified LTC expenses at home or in a facility; if long-term care is never needed, the cash value remains available for other purposes or passes on as a death benefit. Two features set it apart from most other hybrid life products in the market, including Nationwide’s: Asset Care offers an optional lifetime, unlimited benefit period — most hybrid LTC policies, including CareMatters II, cap the benefit period at somewhere around six to eight years — and it can be issued as a single joint-life policy covering two people, with each spouse drawing on their own monthly benefit from a shared pool. Since 2024, Asset Care has also offered the choice between a cash indemnity benefit (no receipts required) or a traditional reimbursement model, so it’s no longer reimbursement-only. This is the product most commonly referenced in hybrid LTC comparisons, but it’s not OneAmerica’s only offering.
Annuity Care is a separate three-product portfolio — Annuity Care, Annuity Care II, and Indexed Annuity Care — that lets you leverage an annuity’s value for qualifying LTC needs. The base Annuity Care product is a single-premium deferred annuity; Annuity Care II adds a built-in continuation of benefits, including a lifetime option so funds don’t run out. Like Asset Care, it’s built to leave a financial legacy if LTC is never needed, not just to fund care if it is. This is OneAmerica’s direct answer to the annuity-based side of the comparison, parallel to Nationwide CareMatters Annuity.
The tax-free treatment on qualifying withdrawals traces back to a specific law, not just general practice: the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-280), which added Section 844 specifically addressing annuities, long-term care, and tax treatment. As of January 1, 2010, qualifying cash value withdrawals from an eligible annuity for LTC expenses stopped being treated as taxable income and are instead treated as a reduction of cost basis — the same underlying mechanism behind every genuinely tax-qualified hybrid annuity product discussed elsewhere in this content, not something unique to OneAmerica.
One practical note: OneAmerica’s content specifically says it’s not currently approved for residents of California, Connecticut, DC, Florida, Kansas, New York, or Oregon — worth confirming directly for any client outside New England before going further.
Nationwide’s Product Lineup
CareMatters II (and the newer CareMatters Together) is a cash indemnity, linked-benefit policy built on universal life insurance. It pays LTC benefits when the insured is certified as having a qualifying condition and a need for LTC services, places no restrictions on how the benefit dollars are actually used, and carries a 90-day elimination period — one that doesn’t need to be continuous, but does need to be satisfied within a 730-day window, and only has to be met once over the life of the policy. A specific, quantified guarantee worth knowing: even if the entire LTC benefit is used, CareMatters II still pays a 20% residual death benefit to beneficiaries.
CareMatters Annuity is Nationwide’s fixed annuity-based LTC product, providing 2 to 3 times the contract value in available LTC benefits depending on underwriting class. Its underwriting is genuinely simplified compared to the life-insurance side — no health interview, no attending physician statement, and no paramedical exam — though it’s still subject to underwriting based on the application questions and a cognitive assessment, so “simplified” isn’t the same as “guaranteed issue.”
Across both Nationwide products, benefits are received tax-free up to the greater of the HIPAA per diem limit in the year of claim or the actual qualifying LTC cost incurred — the same 7702B-qualified structure already established as the standard for genuine tax-free LTC benefits, regardless of carrier.
How Do the Two Carriers Actually Compare?
On the life-insurance side, both Asset Care and CareMatters II follow the same basic logic: your premium builds a policy that can pay LTC benefits while you’re alive and a death benefit if you’re not, with the LTC and death benefit typically drawing from the same underlying value. The most significant difference between them is benefit duration, not just residual death benefit. CareMatters II caps its benefit period, commonly around six years and up to seven; Asset Care can be configured with an unlimited, lifetime benefit period instead — a real advantage for anyone specifically worried about a long-duration claim like dementia or Alzheimer’s, where care can run well past what a capped policy would cover. That protection isn’t free — a lifetime benefit period is a meaningfully different design than a capped one, and it’s worth comparing the actual premium difference on illustrations for both structures rather than assuming lifetime coverage costs proportionally more or less than it sounds like it should. Nationwide’s 20% residual death benefit guarantee on CareMatters II is still worth asking OneAmerica to match directly on an Asset Care illustration, since residual death benefits on hybrid life products vary by design and aren’t automatically identical across carriers.
On the annuity side, both Annuity Care and CareMatters Annuity are built around the same core mechanic — multiplying your deposit into a larger pool of available LTC benefits, commonly in the 2x to 3x range. The real differences worth comparing on an actual illustration are the specific multiplier at your age and health class, the underwriting requirements to qualify for it, the elimination period, and the AM Best or S&P financial strength rating of the issuing company at the time you’re applying, since that rating can change year to year.
One caution applies regardless of which carrier or chassis you’re leaning toward: if funding either product means moving money out of an existing life insurance policy or annuity, that’s a replacement, and it deserves the same scrutiny as any other — OneAmerica’s own materials say plainly that all factors should be weighed before replacing an existing contract. That’s consistent with the broader point that annuity and life insurance replacements are exactly where regulators focus the most attention, and it’s worth a real side-by-side comparison of what you’d give up against what you’d gain before moving forward.
Where Does Insurance Planning Fit In?
Whether OneAmerica or Nationwide fits your situation better — and whether the life-insurance or annuity-based version of either carrier’s lineup fits better — depends on the same factors that drive the IUL-versus-FIA decision generally: whether a death benefit for heirs or protected retirement income for yourself matters more, what funding source you’re actually working with, and your current health and underwriting profile. Both carriers are legitimate, established options in this space; the right fit is a question of your specific numbers, not a general ranking between them.
What To Do Next
If you’re comparing OneAmerica and Nationwide’s long-term care products — or trying to figure out which chassis fits your goals before comparing carriers at all — we’re glad to run actual illustrations side by side with you. Call us at (800) 927-9326 or email — no pressure, just straight answers.
By Marc Gilman, Gilman Agency
This information is general in nature and not intended as tax or legal advice. Product availability, underwriting requirements, benefit structures, and residual death benefits vary by state and are subject to change. Consult your tax advisor regarding your specific situation.
Sources: OneAmerica Financial, “Long-term Care Protection” (oneamerica.com); OneAmerica Financial, “Asset-Based Long-Term Care” and “Annuity Care” (financial professional pages, oneamerica.com); Pension Protection Act of 2006, Public Law 109-280, Section 844; Nationwide Financial, “Nationwide CareMatters Product and Field Underwriting Guide”; Nationwide Financial, “Nationwide CareMatters Annuity Process Guide”; Nationwide Financial, “2025 LTC Awareness Month Resource Guide”; Nationwide Financial, Nationwide CareMatters II client materials (LAM-3097AO); Skloff Financial Group, “OneAmerica State Life Asset Care Hybrid Life and Long Term Care Insurance Review.”
