Manhattan Life
Hospital Indemnity SelectEvery benefit below is transcribed from ManhattanLife Hospital Indemnity Select brochure HIS-BR 0126, and from the application for hospital indemnity insurance AN7003AP. Benefits, amounts and riders vary by state; the policy issued to you governs.
Hospital confinement, 18 to 64½ — the one day plan Included
A daily cash benefit paid to you for observation or confinement. Below 64½ there is one base plan, a 1 day benefit period, with a daily benefit anywhere from $50 to $10,000, chosen in $50 steps — sized against the deductible or out-of-pocket maximum your own health plan leaves you to pay. Benefits fully restore 60 days after discharge.
This is the half of the policy a Californian buys, because the 2026 brochure says it is the only half written there.
Hospital confinement, 64½ to 89 — the three, six and ten day plans Included
From 64½ the choices are 3, 6 or 10 day benefit periods, each with a daily benefit from $50 to $750 chosen in $50 steps, sized against the per-day inpatient co-pay a Medicare Advantage plan charges. Benefits fully restore 60 days after discharge.
Not offered by Manhattan Life in California. The same policy form is two quite different purchases either side of 64½, which is the most important thing to understand.
Short duration hospital stay Included
If you are receiving care in hospital and are discharged between 12 and 23 hours, the 1 day plan pays 25% of the hospital confinement amount and every other benefit period pays 100% of the daily benefit shown on the policy schedule.
The window was 12 to 24 hours in the 2024 edition of the brochure and is 12 to 23 in the 2026 one. If somebody has handed you the older brochure, this is one of the lines that moved.
Emergency room or urgent care Included
$150 when you are treated for an injury in an emergency room or an urgent care facility, up to 6 days a calendar year. No admission required.
Ambulance Included
$200 for each ground or air ambulance trip to or from a medical facility, up to 4 times a calendar year and 15 trips in a lifetime.
In the base policy, not a rider.
Mental health Included
$175 a day for hospital confinement for a mental or nervous disorder, up to 7 days a calendar year.
Paid in place of the hospital confinement benefit, not on top of it.
First day hospital admission rider Optional rider
$250, $500 or $750 on admission to hospital, on top of the daily confinement benefit, payable up to 6 times a calendar year.
Not offered by Manhattan Life in California. Not available on the 1 day benefit plan, which the brochure states from the other end as not available under 64½. That is why it shows as unavailable in California: the 2026 brochure says the three, six and ten day plans are not written there, so the only plan a Californian can buy is the one this rider does not attach to. That is our reading of two carrier statements rather than a sentence the carrier wrote, so ask us to confirm it in writing. Six times a year is a materially different promise from once per confinement.
Skilled nursing facility rider Optional rider
$100, $150, $200 or $250 a day in a skilled nursing facility. Option 1 covers days 1 through 50 and Option 2 covers days 21 through 100.
Not available under age 40. The stay must begin within 30 days of a hospital confinement of at least three consecutive days — a skilled nursing benefit that never follows a hospital stay is not payable. The $250 level and the age 40 floor are both new in the 2026 edition of the brochure.
Outpatient surgical procedure rider Optional rider
$250, $500, $750, $1,000 or $1,500 a day when a surgical procedure is performed in an ambulatory surgical centre or an outpatient hospital facility, up to 2 times a calendar year.
The brochure also lists a $1,250 level and the application has no check box for it. The application is the document you actually tick, so ask for that level in writing rather than assuming it can be selected. The $1,250 and $1,500 levels are both new in the 2026 edition.
Hospital Indemnity Select on its own page, with its own enrollment link.
What a claim looks like
Barbara, 66, Texas — four days in hospital on a Medicare Advantage plan
Barbara was diagnosed with strep throat and bronchitis. Her condition worsened and she was admitted to hospital, where she used four days of her six day benefit. Although Barbara had a Medicare Advantage plan, her out-of-pocket expenses reached $1,500 — a $500 admission co-pay and a $250 co-pay for each of the four days.
| Hospitalisation costs | Amount |
|---|---|
| Barbara’s out-of-pocket expenses | $1,500 |
| First Day Hospital Admission Benefit Rider | $750 |
| Hospital Confinement Benefit ($700 × 4 days) | $2,800 |
| Total amount paid to Barbara | $3,550 |
Barbara had the admission rider at the $750 level and a $700 daily confinement benefit on a six day plan. The 2024 edition of this brochure called that rider a “Lump Sum Hospital Rider”, which is not a name the application carries — if you are holding the older brochure, ask for the First Day Hospital Admission Benefit Rider. Your own figures turn on the daily benefit and benefit period you choose and on what your plan actually charges.
Manhattan Life’s own wording: Not an actual policyholder or claim example - for example purposes only. This example is not applicable in CA.
Eric, 47, Florida — three nights in hospital on an ACA plan
Eric caught pneumonia and spent three nights in hospital. His out-of-pocket expenses and deductibles for the stay came to $8,000. Eric had chosen a 1 Day Hospital Confinement Benefit of $9,450, because he wanted it to match the out-of-pocket maximum in his ACA plan.
| Hospitalisation costs | Amount |
|---|---|
| Eric’s out-of-pocket expenses | $8,000 |
| 1 Day Hospital Confinement Benefit | $9,450 |
| Total amount paid to Eric | $9,450 |
Eric is 47, so the 1 day plan was the only base plan available to him — and that is the plan built to be sized this way. The $1,450 left over after his costs is his to keep or set aside; the benefit is a fixed amount triggered by admission, not a reimbursement of a bill, so it is not reduced because it exceeded what he owed. Equally, it would not have risen if his costs had been higher.
Manhattan Life’s own wording: Not an actual policyholder or claim example - for example purposes only.
- Issue ages
- 18 to 89, as individual, individual and spouse, individual and children, or family cover. In Hawaii that is a spouse or reciprocal beneficiary and in Nevada a spouse or domestic partner. Guaranteed issue from 64½ to 70 — but the application adds a condition the brochure leaves out: you must be a first-time applicant for this product. Everybody else answers the health questions. In California the issue ages stop at 64½, because the plans sold from 64½ are not written there.
- Underwriting
- Guaranteed issue at 64½ to 70 for a first-time applicant. Otherwise seven knock-out health questions, any one of which excludes the person it applies to — HIV, current hospital, nursing facility or home health confinement, tests or surgery advised in the past 12 months and not yet done, help needed with activities of daily living, three or more hospital stays in 12 months, and named lung, liver, artery, neurological and psychiatric conditions in the past 12 months or cardiac, kidney, cancer, amputation and diabetes complications in the past 24. Prescription medication taken in the past 24 months is listed with its diagnosis. The application also asks whether everybody has been performing normal daily activities or actively at work at least 27 hours a week for 12 months, whether anyone was declined for health reasons in the past five years, and whether anyone is pregnant or adopting. One person can be excluded rather than the whole application declined.
- Renewability
- Guaranteed renewable for life, and the brochure states that rates do not increase as you age. Premium can be paid by bank draft, direct billing or payroll deduction where an employer list-bills it.
- Pre-existing conditions
- A pre-existing condition limitation applies — and it applies even on a guaranteed issue policy. The application says so in terms: pre-existing condition limitations apply without regard to the health questions. The brochure's “benefits available immediately” means there is no waiting period, which is a different thing. Neither consumer document we hold states how long the pre-existing period runs, so ask for your state's outline of coverage and read that clause before you sign rather than assuming it matches another company's.
- Policy form
- AN7003. Rider forms AN7003HA, AN7003OS, AN7003SN. Form numbers and benefits vary by state.
Required disclosures from Manhattan Life
THIS IS A SUPPLEMENT TO HEALTH INSURANCE AND IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR MAJOR MEDICAL COVERAGE.
Benefits and riders may vary by state and may not be available in all states.
This is not a full disclosure of plan qualifications and limitations. To access the complete disclosure list for the Hospital Indemnity Select product, visit disclosure.manhattanlife.com. Please review this information before applying for coverage. The amount of benefits provided depend on the plan selected. Premiums will vary according to the selection made.
This brochure only provides a brief description of the important features of your policy. Only the actual policy provisions will control; therefore, it is important that you READ YOUR POLICY CAREFULLY.