EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES WIN WITH VOLUNTARY BENEFITS

The voluntary benefits market is growing, and with good reason. Voluntary benefits-offered through the workplace but paid for fully by employees-enable an employer to make a wide array of supplemental benefits available to employees, at little or no cost to the company. Voluntary benefits products are so attractive that, according to one study, more than six in ten employers now offer at least one type of voluntary benefit.

The advantages of voluntary benefits are well known. Because a voluntary benefit product is marketed and sold in a group setting, employees can purchase the benefits at a group rate, pay for them through payroll deduction, and save the time of shopping for them on their own.

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For eight consecutive years, Metlife has conducted research on employees and employers regarding the U.S. benefits industry, and compiled the results in its annual Study of Employee Benefits Trends. The 2010 study reveals the apparent resilience of workplace benefits even during a tough economy. It also shows that although employers and employees continue to deal with the effects of the economic downturn, they are focused on the long term, and value voluntary benefits. However, there is a slight disconnect on how much worth employers/employees place on voluntary benefits.

According to the 2010 study, 57% of employees agree that voluntary benefits provide access to options that better fit their needs. Furthermore, 60% of employees surveyed believe that voluntary benefits are valuable to provide them with extra coverage that supplements employer-sponsored benefits.

From the employer’s perspective, the study found that many employers underestimate the value employees place on voluntary benefits. Just as employees expressed greater interest in voluntary benefits, the importance of these benefits has declined among employers. As a result, there may be a missed opportunity for employers to improve satisfaction with benefits program.

The most in-demand voluntary benefits continue to be those that supplement core medical, life, or disability coverages. These include dental, critical illness, specific illness, hospital supplemental, medical supplemental, disability buy-up, and supplemental life coverages. However, demographic trends are contributing to growing interest in long-term care and financial planning products. As more people become faced with their parents’ eldercare needs, they begin to appreciate the cost of extended care and anticipate what their own needs may be in a few short years. And, many workers, beginning in mid-career, face the double crunch of saving for retirement at the same time they are attempting to finance their children’s college education.

Other products in the voluntary benefits market include vision insurance, legal services plans, auto/homeowners’/renters’ insurance, and pet care insurance.

In deciding on a particular voluntary benefit product or vendor, an employer should keep several things in mind:

• Is the type of product one for which employees have expressed an interest (as demonstrated by requests made or surveys done of the workforce) or one that you are comfortably sure employees will want?
• If administrative processes by the company’s human resources/benefits staff will be required, are they easy to understand and economical in terms of the amount of time they will require?
• After examining detailed information on the product, does it seem to provide what its name implies?
• Is the carrier/vendor financially stable and reputable?

If chosen properly, voluntary benefits can be a welcome, win-win supplement to an employer’s benefits package.

OVERALL HEALTH IMPROVES WITH UTILIZATION OF SUPPLEMENTAL BENEFITS

When you think of a dental or vision plan as being included in your employee medical insurance package, you usually think of them as a nice perk. However, for many people it can actually be much more than that. Many serious diseases and illnesses can often be diagnosed during a routine dental or vision exam that would have ordinarily gone undiagnosed. Let’s take a look at how each of these supplemental plans can be vitally important to your health.

Dental Exams

Dental exams can catch many diseases early before they get out of hand and before the patient even realizes that they may be a problem. Here are a few of the most notable:

Diabetes is a disease that can often creep up on an individual without the person even being aware of it. If left untreated, diabetes can lead to many adverse health effects, including heart disease and death. Many lives have been saved because dentists spotted the warning signs of diabetes right inside someone’s mouth. Gum disease, cavities, and oral infections are some of the most common warning signs.

An immune deficiency can be a disaster on a person’s health. Even a cold or flu virus can leave them crippled and can possibly even kill them. While a person might not know he has such a deficiency because he hasn’t contracted a major virus - a dentist can sometimes notice that the patient’s oral inflammations aren’t healing in a reasonable amount of time.

Stress. A dentist can notice that a patient has been grinding his teeth - a sure indication of stress. He can then recommend that he see a doctor and get the proper medication.

Vision Exams

Vision Exams can be equally important for catching disorders before they get out of hand. Here are a few of the most important:

High Blood Pressure. Your eye doctor can often pick up the tell-tale signs of high blood pressure by examining the blood vessels in your eyes.

Tumors are often a warning of potential cancer. These can be easily detected by an eye doctor.

Heart Disease. The early symptoms of heart disease can also be detected by a thorough examination of the eye’s blood vessels. Heart disease is often caused by a hardening of the arteries and veins of the body.
With all the diseases that can be diagnosed by a simple dental or eye exam, it simply doesn’t make sense to consider these crucial exams as mere supplemental health benefits. Even if your group doesn’t include these as part of the basic package, you may want to offer these as a voluntary benefit. You and your employees’ lives may depend on it.

HSA PLANS ATTRACT ALL AGE GROUPS: ENROLLMENT EXCEEDS 10 MILLION

As of January 2010, more than 10 million people were covered by health savings accounts (HSAs), according to a survey conducted by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a national association representing companies that offer health insurance (and other types of) coverage to individuals, employers, and public purchasers. This represents a 25% increase in HSA enrollment since last year.

HSAs, which were created in late 2003 by the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act, offer individuals who are covered by a qualified high-deductible health plan (HDHP) a tax-favored way to save for and pay for medical expenses.

Of the total HSA enrollment, about 20% were in the individual market; 30% were in the small group market (defined as businesses with 50 or fewer employees); and the remaining 50% were in the large group market (businesses with more than 50 employees).

In the small group market, the annual premium for the HSA/HDHP product averaged $3,944 for single coverage and $10,048 for family coverage. This bought a policy with an average annual deductible of $2,239 single/$4,418 family, and an average annual out-of-pocket limit of $2,641 single/$5,064 family.

In the large group market, the annual premium for the HSA/HDHP product averaged $3,691 for single coverage and $9,767 for family coverage. This bought a policy with an average annual deductible of $2,203 single/$3,907 family, and an average annual out-of-pocket limit of $2,664 single/$4,497 family.

Though HSAs sometimes are criticized as being appropriate only for young, healthy individuals, 52% of the people covered by HSA-eligible insurance in the AHIP census were over age 40.

The states with the largest HSA/HDHP enrollments were: California (1,018,000); Ohio (651,000); Florida (639,000); Texas (637,000); Illinois (575,000); and Minnesota (361,000).

The AHIP census was conducted by the organization’s Center for Policy and Research. More information on the census can be found through AHIP’s Web site, http://www.ahip.org