A Fresh Look At Employee Benefits

By George Lemmon

Winter is slowly making its exit, and everyone is ready for fresh air and a fresh start. Spring is a time to get organized and get our financial houses in order. It’s also an opportunity for you to help your clients take stock of their benefits offerings and evaluate how ancillary insurance products could help their employees protect what matters most to them.

Unexpected loss

Dealing with the emotional toll of losing a loved one is difficult enough, but not having a life insurance policy in place can lead to undue financial challenges afterwards. For those who haven’t purchased a life insurance policy outside the workplace, supplemental life through an employer could help their loved ones replace lost income and cover monthly expenses without pulling from savings. While it’s always recommended that families meet with a financial advisor to decide what level of life insurance protection would benefit them the most, a supplemental policy could act as a financial safety net, providing much needed normalcy during a very difficult time.

Accidents happen

Accident insurance should not be overlooked, particularly for outdoor enthusiasts or parents of young, active children. The Centers for Disease Control’s National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey stated that 40.2 million Americans visit the emergency room each year for injury-related incidents. With more employers moving to high-deductible health plans, a broken bone could mean thousands of dollars in medical costs. Designed to complement an employee’s existing medical benefits, accident insurance could help take the financial sting out of an already painful injury.

Buying peace of mind

Medical advances have extended our life span significantly, but with age comes higher risk for serious conditions such as cancer, heart attack or stroke. For this reason, employees nearing retirement likely will appreciate the availability of critical illness insurance to help protect their finances from such health events. A Harvard University study published in the American Journal of Medicine stated that the No. 1 cause of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. was medical bills, often tied to a serious illness. Medical insurance helps reduce costs, but most plans don’t cover all expenses related to treatment. According to online resources provided by the American Association of Critical Illness, coverage can cost as little as $200 a year or $17 a month.

Many carriers provide employers with options to customize benefits offerings to meet the unique needs of their employee population. The changing of the seasons is as good a time as any to remind employees that products like supplemental life, critical illness and accident insurance coverage have the ability to protect their financial security to and through retirement.

George Lemmon is senior vice president and head of sales, employee benefits, Voya Financial. George may be contacted at [email protected].

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