A great deal is happening in the voluntary benefits market, asmore brokers and carriers enter the space, and employers realizesupporting overall wellness—physical, emotional andfinancial—increases presenteeism and productivity.

Eastbridge Consulting Group Inc. in Avon, Connecticut, projectsthat voluntary sales for 2015 will increase between 3 percent and 6percent from 2014, and will continue to rise 3 percent to 5 percentover the next several years. It's possible that growth might beeven higher, as more carriers get into voluntary benefits and brokers sellhigher amounts, says Bonnie Brazzell, vice president atEastbridge.

“Brokers understand voluntary benefits better than in the pastand are seeing more opportunities as their employer clients movefrom employer-funded to employee-funded voluntary benefits to tryto control overall costs,” Brazzell says. “Brokers also see moreopportunities as more employers move toward high deductible plans,and can see how particular voluntary products fit into the overallbenefit package.” According to Metlife's 13th annual EmployeeBenefit Trends Study, employers' top employee benefits objectivesare retention (41.1 percent) and controlling health and welfarebenefit costs (37.3 percent).