Your Paradise Valley Parent Got a John Hancock Rate Increase Letter: What to Do Next

The envelope does not look like much. It is a plain business envelope from John Hancock, and it sits on your mother's kitchen counter in Paradise Valley for a week before anyone opens it. When you finally do, it says her long-term care insurance premium is going up, and the number at the bottom of the page is not a small number. Then comes the line that sends families into a spin: you have a limited window to respond, and if you do nothing, the higher premium takes effect on its own.

We get these calls. Usually from an adult child, usually a little panicked, and usually opening with the same question. Should she just cancel it?

Canceling is one of four options, and it is worth understanding the other three before you land on it. A rate increase letter is not a cancellation notice, and it is not as final as it feels. Here are the four answers, so your family can pick one on purpose instead of by accident.

What the Letter Actually Is

John Hancock's own rate action materials describe its long-term care coverage as guaranteed renewable. The company cannot cancel the coverage or change the benefits for any reason other than nonpayment of premium, but it can raise premiums as long as the increase applies to an entire class of policies. The company states that no individual is singled out, and that an increase is not the result of any one person's advancing age, changing health, or prior claims.

An insurer also cannot put an increase into effect without filing it first, though which Arizona rule applies depends on when the policy was issued. For policies issued in Arizona between May 10, 2005 and November 10, 2017, Arizona Administrative Code R20-6-1014 requires the insurer to notify the Director of Insurance at least 60 days before notifying any policyholder, and to submit an actuarial memorandum and a qualified actuary's certification. Policies issued outside that window fall under different sections. If your parent's policy dates to the 1990s or early 2000s, which many John Hancock policies do, ask the company which rules govern it.

Why does this happen at all? John Hancock's stated reason is that people are keeping these policies longer than expected, living longer, and using more benefits than the original pricing assumed. That is a real explanation, and it is also cold comfort when you are the one holding the letter.

Yes, These Increases Have Been Large

For a sense of scale from a public regulatory record: in May 2022 the Pennsylvania Insurance Department approved an increase on a group of older John Hancock policy forms with the condition that no policyholder's premium rise more than 30 percent in a single year, and no more than 100 percent in total across a three-year rollout. The department's summary explained that the premiums in place were not sufficient to pay future claims. That was Pennsylvania, and those were specific policy forms, so it says nothing definitive about your mother's Arizona policy. It does tell you the order of magnitude families have been facing.

John Hancock also states plainly that long-term care premium rates are not guaranteed and could rise again. Any plan you make should assume another letter is possible. The company stopped selling new individual long-term care policies in December 2016, but that was a decision about writing new business, and existing policies stayed in force.

First, Confirm the Policy Is Actually in Force

Before you weigh any option, call the number on the letter and ask John Hancock to confirm three things in writing:

• That premiums are current and the policy has not lapsed at any point.
• That no reduced-benefit election or paid-up conversion was taken in an earlier rate increase round. Many of these policies have been through several, and a choice made in 2014 changes what you are looking at today.
• The benefits actually in effect now, including the current daily or monthly benefit, the remaining lifetime maximum, and whether an inflation rider is still growing.

Ask for a current in-force illustration on company letterhead. A phone representative's summary is not the same thing.

The Four Choices in Front of You

1. Pay the higher premium and keep the coverage as is. This requires no action, which is exactly why it is easy to choose by accident. John Hancock's materials say that if you do nothing, the increase takes effect automatically on the date in the letter. Choosing this on purpose is a legitimate answer. Choosing it because the letter got buried under the mail is not.

2. Reduce benefits to hold the premium down. John Hancock says it offers benefit reduction alternatives and, in most cases, at least one option that keeps the premium at or close to what your parent pays today. The usual levers are trimming the inflation rider going forward, shortening the benefit period, or lowering the daily benefit. Each one costs your parent something later, which is why families tend to weigh these numbers against what care actually costs here in the Valley rather than in the abstract.

3. Convert to paid-up coverage. This is the option families most often miss. Arizona Administrative Code R20-6-1019 describes a protection called the contingent benefit upon lapse. Where it applies, an increase large enough relative to the original premium obligates the insurer to offer both a benefit reduction that keeps the premium from rising at all, and conversion to a paid-up policy with a shortened benefit period. Under the paid-up option, premiums stop, the daily benefit stays at its current level, and the lifetime maximum becomes the total of all premiums ever paid, with a floor of 30 times the daily nursing home benefit. Read the applicability carefully, though. That rule reaches policies issued after January 10, 2005 where the original nonforfeiture offer was declined, so it does not automatically cover a policy written in 1998. Ask John Hancock in writing whether your parent's policy qualifies.

4. Drop the policy. Understand what this means first. John Hancock's materials state that the policy provisions do not provide for any return of premiums paid. Twenty years of payments do not come back. And where the contingent benefit was triggered, a lapse during the election window may be treated as an election of the paid-up option instead, which is better than nothing but is not what most families think they are choosing.

The Deadlines That Matter

Which of these your family is entitled to depends on the policy's issue date and on what the letter says, so treat the letter as the controlling document and confirm the rest with the company.

• Where Arizona's contingent benefit rule applies, the insurer must notify policyholders at least 30 days before the due date of the increased premium.
• Where that rule applies, the election window runs 120 days from the due date of the increased premium.
• The coverage change form in the options package has its own deadline printed on it, and it is usually earlier than you would like.

The Thing Most Families Miss

Many long-term care policies include a waiver of premium, meaning payments stop once the insurer begins paying benefits. The NAIC's consumer guide notes that many policies include this automatically while others offer it only as an optional benefit, and that timing varies: some companies waive premiums from the first benefit payment, others wait until benefits have been paid for 60 to 90 days. Whether it applies to your parent's policy, and to which care settings, is a contract question worth putting to the company directly.

The reason it matters here is timing. If a claim is likely in the near future, the higher premium may be owed for a shorter stretch than the letter makes it feel, and that changes how a permanent benefit reduction looks by comparison. Only the insurer can determine eligibility, working from a licensed practitioner's certification and the benefit triggers written into the contract. Our guide on how to file a long-term care insurance claim covers what that process looks like.

One more protection worth setting up while the file is open. Policies generally let your parent name a third party the insurer must contact if coverage is about to end for nonpayment. The NAIC guide points to it because someone with memory problems can forget a premium and lose coverage at the worst possible moment. Families often name an adult child.

Why This Lands on the Whole Family

You did not sign up to be an insurance analyst. You are already managing appointments, siblings, and a parent who may not want to discuss any of it, and now a business letter has landed on top with a countdown clock on it. There is also the awkward layer nobody names out loud. This letter is about your parent's money, and asking to see the policy can feel like asking about the will. Some parents hand it over gratefully. Some get defensive, or quietly throw the letter away because they do not want to worry anyone.

If that is where you are, you are not failing. You are doing something difficult, on a deadline, without training. Give yourself the grace you would give a friend in the same spot.

Where This Fits With the Care Decision

The reason any of this matters is that the policy is supposed to pay for something. Depending on how it is written, that could be in-home care, an assisted living community, a group home, memory care, or hospice support. Whether a particular Paradise Valley community qualifies depends on the policy language and the community's license, and that is worth confirming in writing before anyone signs a residency agreement. Our overview of how to put a long-term care policy to work covers that ground, and if your parent has dementia and cannot manage the paperwork, who can file the claim on their behalf is the place to start.

How Integrity Senior Placement Helps Your Family

We are a senior placement service, not an insurance agency. We do not sell insurance and we are not paid by any insurer. Our service is completely free to families.

What we bring to a letter like this is having seen a lot of them. We have sat at a lot of kitchen tables with a lot of confusing policies, and we have helped families work through carrier paperwork with communities across the Valley. You call, usually overwhelmed. We listen. We come out for a free in-home assessment to understand the real level of care needed, the location that works, and what the finances and the policy will support. We bring you a short list of communities we have personally vetted from more than 1,000 options across the Phoenix and Scottsdale metro, we tour them with you, and we negotiate on price. Then we follow up after the move, because what a community promises on a tour should still be true in month three. We have been doing this in Arizona since 2016.

Two other resources worth knowing. Arizona Senior Resources hosts free family webinars on elder law, estate planning, and care planning at arizonaseniorresources.com. And if you believe a claim or a rate action has been handled improperly, the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions takes consumer complaints at 602-364-2499 or through difi.az.gov.

You Do Not Have to Figure This Out Alone

Find the letter. Find the deadline printed on it. Call John Hancock and get the current benefits in writing. Then call us, and we will help you think through the rest.

Reina and David answer the phone at 480.271.7759. The consultation is free, there is no obligation, and there is no wrong time to call. We treat every family the way we would want our own parents treated.

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Sources: John Hancock, "Long-term care insurance rate action information center," for the guaranteed renewable description, the statement that no individual is singled out, benefit reduction options, the coverage change request form, automatic implementation of the increase, no return of premium, and the possibility of future increases. Arizona Administrative Code R20-6-1014 (Premium Rate Schedule Increase), which applies to policies issued in Arizona on or after May 10, 2005 and before November 10, 2017, for the 60-day filing requirement and actuarial justification. Arizona Administrative Code R20-6-1019 (Nonforfeiture Benefit Requirement), which applies to policies issued after January 10, 2005 subject to the conditions stated in that section, for the contingent benefit upon lapse, the 30-day notice requirement, the 120-day election window, the required benefit reduction offer, and the shortened benefit period calculation. Pennsylvania Insurance Department rate decision summary for John Hancock Life Insurance Company (USA), SERFF #MULF-133075197, May 9, 2022, for the approved increase limits cited and the department's explanation of why premiums proved insufficient. National Association of Insurance Commissioners, "A Shopper's Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance" (2022), for waiver of premium and third-party notice. Boston Globe reporting, November 2016, for the discontinuation of new individual policy sales. Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions for consumer complaint contact information.

Integrity Senior Placement is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or compensated by John Hancock or any insurance company. We do not sell insurance. This article is general information, not medical, legal, financial, or insurance advice. Long-term care policy terms vary significantly by policy form and year of issue, so your parent's actual contract governs. Confirm all coverage questions with the insurer in writing before making decisions. If you are facing a medical emergency, call 911.

Published September 7, 2026. The facts in this article were verified against the sources listed above on that date.