Voluntary benefit plans have been available for many years, but the changing landscape of Health Insurance has forced employers and employees to seek options for covering increasing out of pocket costs that come with core coverage. More than ever, employers are seeing voluntary benefit options as a meaningful piece of their company benefit puzzle.

For an employer, providing the option of voluntary benefits can help attract or retain talent and help to control rising health care costs with little or no direct cost to the employer.  Companies can ultimately choose whether the benefits will be fully employee-funded, or partially funded by the employer and employee.  Whether you are part of a very large company or a single digit employee organization, there are options for voluntary benefits.

For an employee, voluntary benefit programs offer many affordable options, flexible options to suit personal circumstances and a way to bridge the gap between their core coverage expenses. Voluntary benefit programs offer payments directly to the member in accordance with their coverage package. Many voluntary benefit packages can also be portable when an employee decides to switch jobs; they can keep their coverage as long as the premiums are paid.

Some of the voluntary benefit packages that are offered include Critical Illness Insurance, Accident Insurance, Hospitality Indemnity Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, Disability Insurance, Life Insurance, Cancer Care Insurance and even Identity Theft Protection.

Claim Stories:

#1

Jane has elected for many years to pay for a voluntary benefit program through All-State called a Cancer Care policy. In October of 2017, Jane was diagnosed with Stage 1 Malignant Melanoma. Her doctor said that she needed to have a deep wide Excision surgery to remove the cancerous spot and also have a Sentinel node biopsy.  Jane had to wait 1 month between her diagnosis and surgery, but the doctor believed that the surgery was successful. 2 weeks following the surgery, the Doctor called Jane to let her know that the cancer did not spread and was now removed completely. Jane did not think that this diagnosis and treatment would be covered by All-State, but she filed the claim anyway. She sent in her Pathology reports, her bills and her biopsy to All-State. A few weeks later, she received a check for $225.00, and then soon after that a supplemental check for $10,000.00 was received from All-State as well. During her treatment and surgery, Jane had expenses out of pocket that she had thought would never be reimbursed. The Cancer Care policy brought her back to whole financially and helped her to heal mentally and physically without the burden of worrying about money to pay for her treatment.

 

#2

Paul has paid for Accident insurance through Colonial for his family for the last 3 years. Over those 3 years, Paul’s wife and very young children have stayed relatively accident free. As the kids are getting older, Paul notices that the bumps, bruises, cuts and breaks are adding up in their house. In a matter of 2 months, Paul had to have 2 of his children in the Emergency room for different accidents. His son Jimmy fell off of his bike and broke his leg. His daughter Katie fell off of a picnic bench and dislocated her Collarbone. The costs for emergency care, and the follow up appointments would soon be adding up, taking a toll on Paul and his monthly budget. Luckily, Paul remembered that he had an Accident policy through Colonial Life.  Paul submitted both accidents to Colonial Life and ended up receiving a check for the following. Jimmy’s accident got paid $125 for emergency treatment and $825 for a broken leg (Non-Surgical). Katie’s accident got paid $125 for emergency treatment and $550 for a dislocated Collarbone.

The money paid out by Colonial may not have covered the entire out of pocket expense incurred by Paul and his family, but it can be used to supplement that financial burden.

Give the professionals at Liberty Insurance Agency a call if you are interested in learning more about Voluntary Benefits or would like to sign up for a policy.