The Benefit That Can Help Protect Your Employees

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Voluntary (also known as supplemental) insurance has long served as a way to help protect employees when they’re sick or injured – regardless of their major medical insurance coverage. But now more than ever, voluntary insurance benefits help provide your employees with a financial safety net for unexpected medical expenses. As health care costs continue to rise, these plans play an important role in an employer’s comprehensive benefits package and strategy to attract and retain employees.

Voluntary Insurance Benefits Help Small Businesses Meet Business Objectives

Headed into the post-health-reform era, voluntary insurance benefits options continue to demonstrate value and grow in popularity with small businesses by:

• Maximizing the overall benefits strategy: Most voluntary insurance benefits policies can be offered, sold or provided with or without corresponding major medical plans, and research shows that offering these benefits helps round out an overall benefits package. For example, according to the Aflac WorkForces Report, employees enrolled in voluntary benefits options are more likely to be extremely or very satisfied with their benefits options than those who don’t have the options available at work (64 percent compared to 49 percent).
• Supporting healthier and better-protected workers: According to a nationwide survey conducted by Research Now and Aflac, 40 percent of all companies providing access to voluntary accident insurance experienced declines in their workers’ compensation claims. Many employers who offer voluntary insurance policies also experienced a decline in worker absenteeism once their company began offering voluntary benefits.
• Boosting employee satisfaction and loyalty: According to the WorkForces Report, employees who have access to and are enrolled in voluntary insurance products are also more likely to be extremely or very satisfied with their jobs (68 percent compared to 57 percent) and have more positive perceptions of their employers, such as completely or strongly agreeing their company takes care of its employees (54 percent compared to 45 percent).
• Providing complete control of benefits costs: Voluntary policies can be offered at no direct cost to the policyholder’s employer. You can choose to contribute a portion of the premium or simply make the products available for your workforce to purchase. Some supplemental insurance carriers offer payroll deduction without any added direct cost to your business.

Voluntary plans can be added to companies’ benefits portfolios with no direct effect on a small business’s bottom line, and they give workers the opportunity to enroll in the options that best suit their needs and their budgets.

For a more in-depth look at voluntary insurance benefits, check out Voluntary 101 for Businesses.

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This article, "The Benefit That Can Help Protect Your Employees" was first published on Small Business Trends