Guardian Accident Insurance Delivers Injury-Free Benefit

NEW YORK, June 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America® (Guardian) Accident Insurance now includes benefits that employees want most: money back if they go injury-free and payment for treatments that might normally exceed policy limits. As healthcare costs continue to soar, many families find it harder than ever to cover their expenses¹. When 60% of Americans have less than $500 in savings² and the average out-of-pocket expense for a hospital visit costs $1,000³, one accident or injury can be financially devastating – and the problem is compounded as health plans continue to increase deductibles.

Accident insurance helps families offset the expense of injuries requiring treatment that they might normally have to cover out-of-pocket to meet their plans' deductible. In simple terms, it pays employees directly for common injuries and associated medical treatments and services. Driven by consumer insights, Guardian's accident insurance now features:

• Injury-Free Benefit™ pays the employee a cash benefit if their family is claim-free for five years. Guardian will pay the benefit even if there are wellness and/or concussion baseline study claims filed during this period.
  
  
• Rainy Day Fund pays up to $500 annually to cover costs that are insurable by an individual policy but are not covered by the policy due to limitations, like frequency of follow-up visits or physical therapy sessions, over a defined period of time. For any amount unused over the course of the year, up to half of the original fund will be carried over to the next year, up to a limit of $1,000 (see example below).

"We asked consumers what they wanted most in an accident product to better understand what they would value and appreciate. Our latest enhancements provide maximum coverage to give them what they want - a return on their investment," said Mike Estep, Vice President, Group Products & Worksite Leader, Guardian. "Offering Guardian Accident Insurance can help employers strengthen the financial security of their workforce and help employees manage high healthcare deductibles."

Accidents happen, this product can help

Employers can offer this employee-paid insurance coverage to enhance their overall employee benefits package and help boost employees' financial protection.  As an example of how Guardian's new Rainy Day Fund feature helps with the unexpected, consider the following scenario:  Joe is out bowling with his family when he drops a bowling ball on his foot and fractures three toes.

Joe was paying $39 a month for Guardian's Accident Plan (Platinum) covering his family

Additional key features of Guardian's Accident insurance:

• New Auto-Increase Benefit: Provides an automatic five percent increase in benefit each year for every policy for a maximum of five years with no increase to an employee's premium.
  
  
• Greater Plan Design Flexibility: Guardian now offers four standard accident insurance plans with a wide range of coverage options.
  
  
• More Covered Features: Includes post-traumatic stress disorder due to a covered injury, traumatic brain injury, gunshot wound, and outpatient therapies such as vocational, speech, respiratory or cognitive behavioral therapy.

Unexpected injuries can impact a family's financial wellbeing and lead to increased stress. According to Guardian's 6^th Annual Workplace Benefits Study, 44% of working Americans in HDHPs say they have avoided receiving medical care in the past year because of their high deductibles. For the first time, employers can offer their employees accident insurance that can pay them back while backing them up.

Guardian's enhanced accident product is now available for quoting in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Virginia, and Vermont.

To learn more about Guardian's Accident coverage, please click here.