Ideas: Genworth, ING, Aetna, Prudential, American General, W&S

Genworth Financial Inc. has started offering young age benefits along with some long term care (LTC) insurance policies.

Life insurers have tried to appeal to customers who expect to live for many years by providing living benefits, such as access to will preparation services and the ability to borrow against a policy’s cash value.

Genworth, Richmond, Va. (NYSE:GNW), is providing benefits aimed at consumers who do not expect to need long term care for many years.

The company made the change by offering a package of wellness support services, such as access to a nurse line, that it was offering to LTC insurance benefits recipients. Now all holders of LTC insurance policies that come with the well benefits package can use the services, Genworth says.

Genworth also is making an LTC facility selection and senior support services advice service available to all LTC insurance policyholders and immediate family members of policyholders, not just to policyholders who are getting LTC insurance benefits.

In other ideas news:

- ING U.S., Windsor, Conn., a unit ING Groep N.V., Amsterdam (NYSE:ING), says its retirement division has come up with a way to help cash-strapped state and local governments shift away from paying for employees’ post-retirement health benefits.

ING is recommending that state and local government employers use health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) to give employees a tax-favored vehicle for saving to pay for their own post-retirement health coverage.

To use a health savings account program, a taxpayer must have high-deductible health insurance.

A user of an HRA can have health insurance with any level of deductible.