It's not hard to understand why many benefits advisors get their foot in the door with new clients by offering life, disability and dental insurance — "core" voluntary products nearly all employers want to offer and arguably every employee needs. The downside of that approach is these are the products employees are most likely to already own, so there's less opportunity for new sales.

But that's not the case with hospital indemnity insurance. Even though the pandemic and the continued shift toward high-deductible medical plans have highlighted the need for this important coverage, the market is still poorly penetrated. If offering your clients a valuable product with a big opportunity for sales sounds good to you, hospital indemnity insurance should be in your portfolio. Here are five reasons why.

#1: The market opportunity is big — and growing.

Sales for hospital indemnity/supplemental medical products have fluctuated a bit with market changes in recent years, but have grown 46% since 2015, from $535 million to more than $780 million in 2021. They now account for close to 10% of all voluntary product sales, according to Eastbridge's most recent "U.S. Voluntary/Worksite Sales Report."