Neither one wins in the abstract, because they were built to reach two different people. Most people meet the Aetna name through health coverage inside CVS Health, and its individual life policy lives somewhere else entirely, on the Aetna Senior Supplemental shelf, listed as final expense whole life next to Medicare supplement and the Protection Series plans and reached through licensed agents rather than a checkout page. Colonial Penn is a life insurer inside CNO Financial Group that built its business on direct response, so you see the advertising, you call or apply online, and the plan it is known for is offered inside its age range with limited or no evidence of insurability. If you can answer health questions comfortably, it is worth asking an agent what those answers open on the Aetna side. If health answers are the thing standing in your way, a plan that does not turn on them is the tool made for exactly that.
At a glance
| Aetna | Colonial Penn | |
|---|---|---|
| Best known for | Medical, Medicare and dental coverage inside CVS Health | Decades of direct response advertising to people over 50 |
| Company structure | Part of CVS Health, a publicly traded company | Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company, part of CNO Financial Group |
| Who issues the life policy | Companies in the Aetna family, such as Continental Life of Brentwood | Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company itself |
| Individual life shelf | Final expense whole life, beside Medicare supplement plans | Graded benefit whole life, the plan its advertising points at |
| How you buy it | Through licensed agents, not a consumer checkout | Direct from the company after a television, mail or web response |
| Health questions | Yes, and the answers decide which version you are offered | Limited or none inside its age range, and no medical exam |
| How the amount is set | You name a benefit amount and the premium follows | You choose a monthly figure in units, and your age sets the benefit |
| Early years | Depends which version your health answers qualify you for | Reduced benefit for two years, except in cases of accidental death |
How many companies stand between the advertisement and the claim
The structural difference here is how many names sit between the advertisement and the claim check. Colonial Penn is one name the whole way down. CNO Financial Group markets under three primary brands, Bankers Life, Washington National and Colonial Penn, and the Colonial Penn brand does its own advertising, takes its own applications and puts its own name on the policy. CNO's annual report describes leads for its graded benefit life business coming from television, print advertising, direct response mailings and the internet. Aetna is a health brand first, and its individual life policy is not on the consumer site beside the medical plans. It sits with Aetna Senior Supplemental Insurance, next to Medicare supplement and the Protection Series, it is issued by other companies in the Aetna family of companies, and it is reached through the licensed agents who carry that shelf. Neither chain is better than the other. One keeps everything under a single familiar name, which is simple to follow. The other adds an issuing company you may not recognize and a licensed agent, and that agent is the person who walks the health questions with you and explains what your answers open.
Who each one actually suits
Aetna
A CVS Health company whose senior shelf carries final expense whole life
- Your health answers are steady, and you want an agent to check what those answers qualify you for before you decide anything.
- You would rather name the benefit your family actually needs and let the premium follow from that number.
- You want a licensed person to read the application with you, out loud, instead of filling in a form on your own.
- You want life coverage sitting on the same senior insurance shelf as Medicare supplement and the Protection Series plans, with one service department behind them.
- The Aetna name is already familiar to you from health or Medicare coverage, and starting there feels easier than starting cold.
Colonial Penn
A CNO Financial brand built on direct response, selling coverage in units
- Answering questions about your medical record is the part that has stopped you before, and this plan is offered inside its age range with limited or no evidence of insurability.
- You would rather handle this yourself, by phone or online, in one sitting, with no appointment to schedule.
- You want the company that advertises the plan to be the same company that issues it and pays the claim, with nobody in between.
- You are covering one specific bill, a funeral and what lands right after it, and you want a permanent policy sized to exactly that.
- You accept that benefits are less than the face amount in the first two policy years except in cases of accidental death, which is the trade that lets the plan ask so little at the door.
If you already hold one of them
Before you compare anything, pull the policy you already own and read the first two pages of it. On an Aetna final expense policy, find out which version you hold and whether the full benefit is payable today, because that single fact changes what starting over would really cost you. On a Colonial Penn policy, write down both numbers, the monthly premium and the death benefit in dollars, since the plan is quoted by the month and paid by the benefit. Whichever one you hold, it was underwritten around the person you were on the day it was issued, and months already served against a limited benefit period are worth real money you would hand back by starting again. Plenty of these reviews end with keep what you have.
Common questions
Does Aetna still sell life insurance to individuals?
Yes. Aetna Senior Supplemental Insurance lists final expense whole life alongside its Medicare supplement plans and its Protection Series products, which cover things like dental, vision and hearing, hospital indemnity, home care and recovery care. That life coverage is reached through licensed agents rather than bought from the consumer website, which is why people who go looking on the main Aetna site and find only health plans sometimes assume the company stopped writing life insurance. It did not. The policy simply lives on the senior supplemental shelf.
Why can I apply to Colonial Penn on my own, but need an agent for Aetna?
Because of what each application has to do. Aetna's final expense whole life asks health questions, and your answers decide which version you are offered, so the process is built around a licensed agent who takes them with you and explains what each one means. CNO's annual report describes the graded benefit life products it markets as offered with limited or no medical examination or evidence of insurability, and says leads for that business come from television, print advertising, direct response mailings and the internet. One design needs a person. The other was built so that it would not.
Whose name is actually on each policy?
Aetna's senior supplemental coverage is issued by companies in the Aetna family, a list that includes Accendo Insurance Company, American Continental Insurance Company and Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood, Tennessee, all part of CVS Health. Colonial Penn policies are issued by Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company, one of the three primary brands CNO Financial Group markets under, along with Bankers Life and Washington National. The issuing company is the one that owes the claim, so if the name on your paperwork is not the brand name you recognize, that is normal, and the first page of the contract will tell you which company it is.
Does either one ask health questions or require a medical exam?
Colonial Penn's guaranteed acceptance plan is the one built to ask the least. CNO's annual report describes the graded benefit life products it markets as offered with limited or no medical examination or evidence of insurability. Aetna's final expense whole life is underwritten on health questions instead, which is what a licensed agent walks through with you, and what those answers open depends on how they read. Terms vary by state and by product, so confirm what applies where you live before you decide.
Does either one have a waiting period before the full benefit is paid?
On the plan that asks the least, yes, and that is normal for coverage built to accept people without evidence of insurability. CNO's annual report describes the graded benefit life products it markets as paying less than the face amount during the first two policy years, except in cases of accidental death, and as offered on an individual basis primarily to people aged 50 to 85 in face amounts of $400 to $50,000. On the Aetna side it depends which version your health answers qualify you for, so ask the agent to say plainly what is payable in year one. Read your own contract for the exact terms.
Which one costs less?
That turns on your age, your health, the amount of coverage and your state, so any figure named before those are known is a guess. The two are not even quoted the same way. Colonial Penn starts from a monthly price per unit and the death benefit follows from your age, while an Aetna final expense policy starts from the benefit amount you name and the premium follows from that. Decide the dollar benefit your family would actually need first, then ask each company what it charges monthly to put that exact number in force. Two quotes describing the same benefit can be read side by side in a minute.
I already have an Aetna Medicare supplement. Should my life insurance go there too?
It can, and it is fair to ask, but it is not a rule. Keeping coverage with a company you already deal with means one servicing department, one login and one set of paperwork, and for a lot of households that is worth something real. It does not by itself mean the price or the underwriting will be the best available to you, because a Medicare supplement and a life policy are priced on completely different things. Ask for the life quote on its own merits, then decide whether the convenience is worth what it costs, if it costs anything at all.
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Rates for Aetna and Colonial Penn both depend on your age and health, which means the better buy for your neighbour may be the worse buy for you. A licensed professional will price both against what you already have and tell you which is genuinely better, including when the honest answer is to keep what you have.
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This comparison is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Product availability, pricing and underwriting differ by state, age and health, and change over time. Policy Review Center is a free comparison and referral service, not an insurance agency, insurer, or producer, and it connects you with independent licensed agents. Carrier names are used for reference only and do not imply any endorsement or affiliation.