PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018 - 38

TOTAL BENEFITS
FIGURE 3. Voluntary Insurance Benefits Offered
By Large Employers*
These benefits can include a wide range of coverages.
the high-deductible plan, " he says.
Groups typically have access to richer
61%
51%
42%
41%
36%
33%
24%
24%
23%
21%
20%
16%
11%
Accident
Cancer/Critical illness
Individual disability
Whole/Universal life
Legal benefit
Discount purchase program
ID theft
Long-term care
Investment advisory
Auto/Homeowners
Hospital indemnity
Pet insurance
None of the above
*Plans with 500+ participants, benefits paid partially or fully by participants.
Source: Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans 2017
13%
72%
FIGURE 4.
Small and midsize employers
who plan to implement voluntary
benefits in the next 12-18 months.
Source: Hub International Ltd. Employee Benefits
Barometer, 2017
FIGURE 5.
Employees agree that the ability to
customize benefits increases loyalty.
Source: MetLife's 2017 U.S. Employees
Benefits Trends Study
plans than what is available on the individual
market. Garber adds, " With this not
only comes more competitive benefits in
the plans themselves but also lower pricing
and guaranteed issue underwriting. This
is a major advantage to the employee. "
What Benefits?
Several categories of voluntary benefits
are provided today, and the offerings
within each are increasing to address
the needs of each generation and work
force segment. According to Garber,
these categories include: benefits that are
considered supplemental to major medical
and core benefits-e.g., critical illness,
accident, hospital indemnity, short-term
disability and life insurance; those that
promote financial wellness-e.g., identity
theft, legal services, purchasing programs,
workplace banking and loan services, and
student loan repayment programs; and
those that allow for employee personalization
and provided them with convenience
and discounts-e.g., pet insurance,
employee perks and group auto/home
insurance.
Regarding the first category-supplemental
medical and core benefits-Weber
says, these " are not used to fill in an
employee's high-deductible health cost
but instead to make payments for specific
risks that employees can realize. There are
three products that fall into that category,
from a health perspective: an accident
plan, a critical illness plan and a hospital
indemnity plan. "
If employees have a high-deductible
plan, they may want to buy additional
coverage to hedge against specific
risks, he says. " An accident plan would
pay a scheduled benefit that would help
employees with whatever expenses they
may have exposure to. For instance, cancer
treatments would be covered under an
employee's health plan, " but ancillary
expenses-such as the need to travel to
the cancer center or the cost of childcare
or lodging for family members-would
38 PLANSPONSOR.com December 2017-January 2018
http://www.PLANSPONSOR.com
PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANSPONSOR - December 2017/January 2018
