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Voluntary Benefits

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What Are Voluntary Benefits?

Not every employer can afford to pay for healthcare plans for their employees, but that doesn’t mean your business can’t offer them any type of medical benefits. Instead, your business can sign up for voluntary benefits, which can lower costs for staff without any cost to the employer.

A group voluntary benefits program allows an insurance agent/company to offer employees access to particular medical benefits through their employment, often with payments collected through payroll. Because the insurance company is getting access to multiple potential customers, they agree to offer lower premiums than employees would pay for individual insurance on the open benefits market.

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Employee Benefits
Group Health Insurance
Risk Factor

One of the main factors in attracting and retaining good employees is the benefit program offered by employers. This typically starts with your group health insurance plan.

Solution

Regardless of the company’s financials, there are ways to make health insurance available to your employees and their dependents. Offering health insurance doesn’t have to break the bank. There are many solutions available to small, mid-size, and large employers.

Group Life Insurance
Risk Factor

When employees are worried about their financial situation, they may not be as productive. Many individuals today do not have life insurance or adequate savings to cover final expenses, which places additional stress on employees and/or their families when the need arises.

Solution

A group life insurance plan can put your employees’ minds at ease, knowing their family will have resources available when they need them. Policies can also include a dependent benefit to help the employee pay for expenses if their dependent passes. Another solution is to offer a voluntary life benefit whereby the employee pays a lower premium through payroll deduction than they would if they found coverage on their own. Group life insurance is also tax deductible.

Disability
Risk Factor

Many employers are faced with offering lower wages than their competitors and find it difficult to find and retain qualified workers.

Solution

Offering a short-term and/or a long-term disability program can provide prospective and current workers with another form of financial stability. An employee may be offered a higher wage elsewhere, but are they offered protection if that paycheck stops due to pregnancy, illness, or other disability? How will they pay the mortgage or other bills? Employers offering a disability plan can provide peace of mind to their employees and gain an advantage over those that don’t.

Group Dental Coverage
Risk Factor

Failure to have regular dental checkups can lead to more serious problems than a toothache.

Solution

Offering dental coverage to your employees can help encourage them to see a dentist on a regular basis. Gum disease has been linked to heart disease as well as diabetes. Catching these issues early not only helps your employees’ health, it may help reduce your long-term health insurance costs before a big claim hits!

Vision Care Coverage
Risk Factor

Similar to dental coverage, if your employees are not getting regular eye exams, they may have underlying medical conditions such as heart disease or diabetes that can surface later at a greater expense to your medical plan.

Solution

Offering vision care coverage is a very affordable component to offering health benefits. It’s an inexpensive portion of the benefit package with a high value of return and can help offset the impact of increased medical costs, becoming a cost-effective, early intervention tool.

Voluntary Coverage
Risk Factor

Not being able to meet an employee’s individual needs can pose a threat to worker retention and attracting new talent, both of which can be costly to your bottom line.

Solution

Offering voluntary coverage lets your employees choose benefits that are important to them. It’s a cost-effective way to provide a variety of benefits at little or no impact to your monthly premiums. Examples of voluntary coverage include:

  • Critical illness, hospital indemnity, and cancer coverage.
  • Life, dependent life, short-term, and long-term disability coverage.
  • Dental care.
  • Vision care.

Compliance Audits
Risk Factor

Compliance audits are increasing and Department of Labor fines can be costly. Do you have all of the documents and paperwork at your fingertips should you receive an audit letter?

Solution

A good benefits broker will educate you on the compliance pieces so that you are prepared for that dreaded day. A wrap document covers most of what is required and the remaining forms should be readily accessible with proof of distribution to employees and/or eligible participants.

Keeping Your Employees Healthy

Offering voluntary benefits doesn’t cost the employer anything, but it does increase the chances of employees acquiring quality medical insurance coverage. That, in turn, helps your business retain employees and increases the likelihood that they’ll stay healthy and financially secure.

If you’re looking for an alternative to offering full medical benefits to your employees, then group voluntary benefits could be the answer. Request a free voluntary benefits insurance quote below to get started!

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As an independent agency, we are here to help you find the right coverage.