LIFE INSURANCE Voluntary supplemental life takes on new social value after pandemic By Len Strazewski For decades, life insurance benefits were last in line during open enrollment. Stuck at a basic level of one- or two-times salary, employer-paid life insurance was a necessary benefit, but not as important as health insurance or retirement plans. Voluntary life insurance was not a particularly great seller, except for younger workers who needed additional
Benefits & Financial Services
DENTAL AND VISION The products have evolved, covering more complicated and expensive procedures By Len Strazewski Drill and fill those angry cavities. Fit a new pair of eyeglasses. Get free dental and eye exams once a year. A generation ago, dental and vision insurance paid for those benefits and not much more. And agents and brokers sold them as supplements to major medical policies that provided the healthcare that really
A FOUNDATIONAL PRODUCT GETS AN UPGRADE Transamerica bundles diverse services with group term life By Thomas A. McCoy, CLU Group term life insurance has always been a highly-utilized employee benefits product. It may not be exciting or require a lot of discussion when benefits menus are formulated, but it is often the foundation for a benefits program. It provides critical protection for workers and their families. According to LIMRA’s life
IS SELF-ENROLLMENT HERE TO STAY? Finding the key to boosting voluntary benefits participation for your clients By Joe Goolsby We’re all aware of how much the benefits world shifted during COVID. Perhaps nothing changed more than benefits enrollment—specifically voluntary benefits enrollment. Starting in 2020 when COVID first hit, employers didn’t want employees or vendors on-site, of course, in order to stop the spread of the disease. As a result,
MEDICAL STOPLOSS Helping more employers fight the effects of inflation By Len Strazewski When the World Health Organization declared the COVID pandemic more than three years ago, self-funded employers and their stop-loss insurers steeled themselves for a tsunami of medical claims. Hospitals were at capacity and before vaccines became available, health insurers feared the worst. But the tsunami never came. As social medicine prevention programs took hold, employers sent
