Accelerated death benefit
Updated for plan year 2026
In plain terms
An accelerated death benefit (ADB) is a life insurance rider, often included at no extra cost, that lets you draw a portion of your death benefit while still alive if you're diagnosed with a qualifying terminal or chronic illness. The amount you take is deducted from what your beneficiaries eventually receive.
A plain example
Diagnosed with a terminal illness, you use an accelerated death benefit to access part of your policy's payout to cover care and expenses now. That advance is later subtracted from the death benefit your beneficiaries receive.
Why it matters
It turns a death benefit into help during a health crisis, without a separate product. Because it's frequently free on a policy, there's little reason to decline it: it adds flexibility exactly when a family needs it most.
A common point of confusion
It reduces the eventual payout to beneficiaries dollar-for-dollar; it isn't extra money on top of the death benefit. And it typically requires a qualifying diagnosis, not just any illness.