Today, Genworth is launching a medically underwritten, single-premium product designed to provide guaranteed monthly income for Americans aged 70 to 95 who need long-term care now or will soon. Income from the IncomeAssurance Immediate Need Annuity begins immediately and can be used for any purpose.

“While healthy people have many options to help fund their future LTC expenses, that’s not the case for older Americans, who need care now and are afraid of running out of money,” Tom McInerney, president and CEO of Genworth, said in a statement.

In a Feb. 19 call with members of the press, Debapriya Mitra, senior vice president of business strategy for Genworth’s U.S. Life Insurance Division, said that the new product not only will benefit older adults and their families, who otherwise might have to pay for seniors’ care; it also will benefit senior living communities by helping older adults to afford long-term care. For Genworth, he added, it also may raise awareness of the need for LTC insurance among the healthy adult children of those purchasing the new annuity.

Genworth will determine the amount of monthly income that older adults will receive from the IncomeAssurance Immediate Need Annuity by considering several factors: age, gender and the health of the care recipient, along with the income plan and optional benefits they chose. The monthly payment generally is larger than that associated with traditional immediate annuities if the care recipient is less healthy or needs care, according to the company.

The product differs from LTC insurance in that there are no activities of daily living “triggers,” no claims to file and no ongoing health evaluations required. Initial applicants undergo a medical records review and a health evaluation by a nurse but do not undergo blood tests or other laboratory work.

When it comes to financing of long-term services and supports, “there is no silver bullet,” Mitra said, adding that the new annuity is part of a portfolio of long-term care-related products Genworth is planning. “What is needed is a basket of solutions,” he said.