More than any other generation, baby boomers consider health care benefits the most important workplace perk.

Just how much do baby boomers value their health care benefits? According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, no other employer-provided benefit comes close. Nearly seven in 10 boomers—the oldest of whom have hit age 70 -- ranked their health care coverage as the most important benefit, more so than even traditional pensions and 401(k) plans.

Boomers value their health benefits because they’ve arrived at the point in their life where they regularly use them. Most grew up with comprehensive health care coverage through traditional plans. Maybe that’s why EBRI’s data shows boomers as less enthusiastic about health care consumerism than their younger counterparts.

Boomers have witnessed first-hand the disintermediation of traditional coverage and the increase in their share of premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

In some respects, boomers are the ideal prospects for voluntary benefits. They tend to have a high level of financial literacy, are conscious of maintaining their health as they finish out their careers or enter retirement and they have aggregated more wealth than younger workers.

As voluntary brokers consider boomer benefits, they can tailor a communications and marketing strategy that will engage this generation’s attention. Here are some distinct characteristics of the 75 million+ boomer Americans, the challenges they face in preparing for their golden years, and specific voluntary product solutions that can help them protect a lifetime of work.

[Click through our six tips about baby boomers using the navigtion below]

1) Don’t assume boomers are social media illiterate

Boomers use social media more than brokers sometimes presume. While that fact may be off-putting to their millennial children, enterprising brokers can leverage social media to target and deliver information to older workers, just as they know they must with millennial workers.

That is not to say that boomers use social media in the same way, to the same extent or on the same channels as millennials. Don’t count on boomers having a significant footprint on SnapChat or Tinder.

But they do use Facebook -- and in surprisingly high, and growing, numbers. DMN3, a B-to-B and B-to-C marketing firm, recently found that, of the more than 1,000 surveyed boomers in their 60s, 82 percent use Facebook.

They tend not to immerse themselves in their Facebook accounts, though. Among those who said they use the network, about one-quarter spend up to two hours a week on the platform, while 15 percent said they spend more than 11 hours a week. The rest falls somewhere in between.

DMN3’s research also found that boomers are often active on Facebook, with nearly 60 percent willing to click through to a company’s website, about half willing to share or like a link and about 34 percent willing to make a purchase through information delivered via Facebook.

2) Boomers are “terrified” about the cost of health care in retirement

Every year for the next 20 years, about 3 million boomers will reach retirement age – all while the health care system shifts toward outcome-based payment solutions.

Last year, a survey concluded that boomers were “terrified” about out-of-pocket medical costs in retirement, grabbing considerable headlines.

And it wasn’t just cash-strapped pre-retirees saying as much. Respondents were comparatively affluent, with a minimum of $150,000 in household income.

3) Voluntary vision, dental a no-brainer for boomers

Those fears, though, are not unfounded. The most recent data from HealthView Services, which provides and an out-of-pocket health care cost calculator to help retirement advisors and brokers better prepare savers for their golden years, shows that a healthy 65 year-old couple retiring this year can expect to spend $288,400 on premiums for Medicare and supplemental core coverage in retirement.

But dental, vision and hearing out-of-pocket costs add nearly another $100,000 to the tab.

Medicare won’t cover dental, vision or hearing services in retirement, and some Medicare Advantage plans offer bare minimum coverage in those areas. That raises another point enterprising brokers can consider as they address older workers at the worksite: Many boomers, in spite of their great financial sophistication, remain unclear as to what exactly Medicare will cover when they leave the workforce, and just how much they’ll have to pay out of pocket.

Quick Medicare fact sheets can help boomers, whether retiring this year of sometime in the next decade, and serve as a simple, cost-effective value-add service for a broker.

For younger boomers with their peak earning years yet in front of them, brokers can communicate the extent of future health care costs. HVS says a 55-year old couple retiring in 10 years will need nearly 90 percent of their Social Security checks to cover out-of-pocket health care costs in retirement. Helping younger boomers supplement with the right voluntary products can minimize out-of-pocket costs today, and encourage them to then redirect those savings to tax-deferred retirement plans.

4) Boomers may be spooked by LTCI headlines

Younger boomers are at the prime purchasing age for long term care insurance, as they are theoretically young enough to obtain competitive underwriting rates from issuers.

Many have no doubt seen the headlines across the country: The long term care market is suffering high loss ratios, driving massive premium increases for LTCI policyholders.

The prospect of post-facto, high premium hikes is likely to discourage middle-income boomers from considering LTC.

Insurers have responded by offering hybrid life insurance products with LTCI riders. Some experts favor them because they pay a benefit even if the policyholder ultimately never needs long term care. And they are often written to protect consumers from spiraling premium increases that are gouging so many traditional LTCI policyholders.

Hybrid policy sales are on the increase, with some issuers seeing 100 percent policy adoption increases. Part of its draw is that the products combine two insurance products — life and LTCI — that have traditionally confused consumers of all ages. Brokers may be necessary to help boomers navigate a marketplace of new LTCI options.

5) Workplace wellness plans can benefit boomers

Today’s boomers are health conscious, are expected to live longer than their parents and are (presumably) healthier than their parents were at the same age.

But research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that while boomers are expected to live longer, they were more likely to have higher rates of hypertension, higher cholesterol and more cases of obesity and diabetes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention validated JAMA’s research with its own, which also showed fewer boomers are dying early relative to their parents, but still, more are battling chronic illness. Adults age 55 to 64 are taking more drugs than ever before to fight diabetes and cholesterol, according to the CDC.

Brokers are of course acquainted with the long-running cost-benefit debate over worksite wellness programs. Reluctant sponsors could be convinced by the value of a wellness program for their boomer cohort of workers.

With the potential to impact health care outcomes, reduce premiums and improve worksite productivity, the wellness argument may be best made in the context of boomer workers, many of whom are struggling with health issues that could be improved with behaviors acquired in the workplace.

Instant Insights /

Baby boomers: wealthy, wired, and terrified of over out-of-pocket retirement costs

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