Brokers are discovering a growing appetite among employer customers for voluntary products to be included in benefits packages for employees.

The 2015 Aflac Workforces Report identified a significant increase in voluntary products being offered by brokers. According to the survey, the trend within employer sponsored plans is to view "major medical insurance is merely a foundation — a foundation that's more effective when it's supplemented by employer-sponsored policies such as life and disability insurance and, going a step further, by voluntary insurance options that help pay bills major medical insurance was never intended to cover."

The survey yielded the following information based on responses to questions about voluntary benefits:

  • Thirty-nine percent of companies offered voluntary options in 2014, which is up from 26 percent in 2012;

  • 64 percent see a growing need for voluntary insurance today compared to years past;

  • 58 percent plan to increase the amount of revenue from voluntary benefits at their firms over the next 12 months — up 9 percent increase over 2014 and 14 percent compared to 2013.

"The outlook was just as bright when brokers were asked to project the success of voluntary benefit sales," Aflac reported. "Nearly half, 45 percent, believe the proportion will increase over the next year … an increase of 18 percent compared to 2014."

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.

Voluntary Benefits