Strong employee interest in more coverage

The strong sales of life and disability protection seem to indicate a renewed interest in covering the basics of financial protection, but that's far from the end of the story. In fact, it appears to be just the beginning — and that's good news for brokers in this market, as well as the carriers they partner with. Eastbridge's research suggests interest in and sales of these and other voluntary products will continue to grow as the pandemic showed many workers how they help cover unexpected medical bills.

It's true growth last year was more moderate — but still trending up — for hospital indemnity and supplemental medical products at 9%, critical illness sales at 4% and accident sales at 3%. Long-term care sales, while a very small portion of the market, rose 9%. Only cancer and vision sales declined in 2021.

But perhaps a more telling way to look at voluntary product sales is to compare the percent of employees who don't own a particular type of coverage and their interest in buying that coverage. That's because the gap between those two numbers could indicate a significant sales opportunity.

Take critical illness, for example. Less than a third of employees have this type of coverage, while most (71%) do not. Yet nearly half of those without coverage — 47% — say they're interested in buying it. That's a healthy chunk of the market open to adding more voluntary coverage to their employee benefits package. And the same is true for other supplemental health products.

Want to know more? Watch for our next column on voluntary sales distribution trends.

The annual U.S. Voluntary/Worksite Sales Report is the industry's most comprehensive and reliable source of data on voluntary/worksite sales and in-force premium. This year's study includes data from 1997 through 2021 and detailed results for 69 carriers. The report is available only to carriers participating in the survey. For more information about participating in next year's survey, contact us at [email protected].