Aflac Enhances Its Permanent Life Insurance Portfolio

COLUMBUS, Ga., Oct. 31, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac, the leader in voluntary insurance sales at the worksite in the United States, today announced the expansion of its Group Life portfolio, which will now include a new Universal Life Plan with Long-Term Care (LTC) benefits and an enhanced Group Whole Life Plan. Brokers asked Aflac for a full suite of permanent life products, and Aflac responded. The new insurance offerings help brokers serve as a true one-stop resource for affordable voluntary benefits.

"With the expansion of our Group Life portfolio, we are broadening the scope of our voluntary solutions. Now brokers can offer a complete portfolio of benefits that include high guaranteed-issue limits so that our customers have the protection they need," said Stephanie Shields, vice president of Product Innovation and Marketing at Aflac. "We call it 'quality of life' insurance— whether the need is to pay off current bills and debt, cover funeral expenses, send children to college or create a scholarship in their loved one's name, life insurance is the tool to deliver peace of mind and financial stability for all employees."

Universal Life with Long-Term Care:
With eight optional riders, which include living benefits for long-term care, Universal Life is a comprehensive option to help shield every family from financial hardship if a spouse or loved one passes away. This insurance is fully portable and offers a maximum death benefit up to $300,000 along with living benefits, which can be utilized for long-term care, home health care, and adult day care or assisted living. The Universal Life accumulates cash value as it ages, which the insured can take as a partial surrender to withdraw funds or borrow money through a loan against the cash value. Other plan highlights include family coverage and employee guaranteed-issue options, which are available at a case level and vary by case size, industry and access to employees.

Many employees want to protect their families' futures with end-of-life benefits; however, an important health care benefit for families is long-term care. In fact, the average length of a stay for long-term care in the U.S. is three years,¹ and the cost for this care can range from $200-$300 per day.² With a steep price tag, it's more important than ever for employers to build long-term care into their benefits offerings to help provide a financial safety net for their employees during difficult times.

Aflac's Universal Life product is white-labeled under Trustmark Insurance Company as a pure distribution partnership. This allows Aflac to leverage its unmatched brand recognition in the marketplace while ensuring product administration and risk management are supported by a partner with a long-standing, successful reputation and experience in the product category.

"It is critical that we design product offerings to be more relevant and to provide holistic solutions to brokers and their customers," said Teresa White, president of Aflac U.S. "In order to do so, we continue to look for opportunities to partner on different products through private labeling and reinsurance, allowing us to bring together best-in-class expertise from our partners and the leading brand in the voluntary insurance industry."

Group Whole Life:
Aflac Group Whole Life is another permanent life option for individuals who want a fully diversified life insurance portfolio. Like Universal Life, this product is portable and provides benefits up to $300,000 to help take care of immediate and future needs if an insured loved one should pass away, including end-of-life expenses, medical costs, income replacement, debts and more.

The product also builds cash value over time; insureds can accumulate savings at a guaranteed rate of return. They can access their guaranteed cash value and take loans. Other enhancements include increased guaranteed-issue amounts that are tiered based on group size as well as more competitive rates.

By offering Aflac Universal Life, Group Whole Life and Group Term Life products along with other Aflac plans, employers can offer a complete portfolio of voluntary benefits to meet the unique needs of each employee. Universal Life will be available in all states, and Whole Life is available in all states except California, New York and Oregon. Both products are available for Jan. 1, 2017, coverage effective dates.

To learn more about Aflac's suite of life insurance products, including the new Universal Life and enhanced Group Whole Life products, visit aflacgroupinsurance.com. Universal Life is underwritten by Trustmark Insurance Company.

About Aflac
When a policyholder gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For six decades, Aflac insurance policies have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. In the United States, Aflac is the leader in voluntary insurance sales at the worksite. Through its trailblazing One Day Pay^SM initiative, Aflac U.S. can receive, process, approve and disburse payment for eligible claims in one business day. In Japan, Aflac is the leading provider of medical and cancer insurance and insures 1 in 4 households. Aflac insurance products help provide protection to more than 50 million people worldwide. For 10 consecutive years, Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. In 2016, Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the 18th consecutive year and included Aflac on its list of Most Admired Companies for the 15th time, ranking the company No. 1 in innovation for the insurance, life and health category for the second consecutive year. In 2015, Aflac's contact centers were recognized by J.D. Power by providing "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience" for the Live Phone Channel. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac and One Day Pay^SM, visit aflac.com or espanol.aflac.com.
Media contact – Kristen Fraser, 706.243.5543 or [email protected]

Analyst and investor contact – Robin Y. Wilkey, 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667, FAX: 706.324.6330, or [email protected]

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Residential Care Communities and Their Residents in 2010: A National Portrait," March 2016, accessed July 17, 2016 - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nsrcf/nsrcf_chartbook.pdf
² Genworth, "Genworth 2016 Cost of Care Survey, conducted by CareScout," April 2016, accessed Oct. 28, 2016 - https://www.genworth.com/dam/Americas/US/PDFs/Consumer/corporate/131168_050516.pdf

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SOURCE Aflac