Life insurance and disability insurance remain the bread and butter of workplace benefits, new research from LIMRA confirmed. Two-thirds of employers and a majority of workers value these benefits, and sales of both products rebounded in the second quarter of this year.
“In the first half of 2025, we see sales stabilizing,” said Grace Rafferty, corporate vice president and director of LIMRA’s workplace benefits research program. “We expect this to continue through the rest of the year.”
The research identified trends in several insurance categories.
Life insurance. Total workplace insurance new premium was $666 million in the second quarter of 2025, representing a 1% increase over the same period last year. For the year to date, total workplace life insurance new premium was $2.65 billion, down 7% from the same period in 2024. Less than half of participating carriers reported sales growth in the first half of 2025.
“Although term new premium continued to struggle in the second quarter, down 4%, year over year, permanent product sales rebounded from the double-digit decline experienced in the first quarter, rising 1% in the second quarter,” the report said. “Year to date, group life insurance premium, which represents 92% of the market, fell 6%. Individual sales fell 8% compared with the prior year's results.”
Disability insurance. Total workplace disability insurance new premium was $618 million in the second quarter, a 3% increase year over year. In the second quarter, short-term disability insurance new premium grew 7% and long-term disability insurance premium fell 3%.
In the first six months of 2025, total workplace disability insurance topped $2.3 billion, 7% lower than last year’s results. Year-to-date short-term disability new premium fell 5% and long-term disability new premium dropped 9%. The top 10 carriers accounted for 75% of total new disability insurance premium sales in the first six months of 2025.
Supplemental health insurance. In the second quarter, workplace supplemental health product sales, which include accident, critical illness, cancer, hospital indemnity and other supplemental products, were $541 million, similar to the second quarter of 2024. In the first six months of 2025, supplemental health new premium totaled $1.9 billion, down 5%, compared with the same period last year.
The top 10 carriers collectively represented 66% of all supplemental health product sales in the first half of 2025. Accounting for 95% of all new supplemental health premium in the first half of 2025, the major product lines declined in sales compared with results from the same period in 2024.
Rafferty expects these trends to continue in the new year.
“While inflation and a softening economy may force employers to re-evaluate the breadth of their benefit offerings in 2026,” she said. “LIMRA’s research shows most employers plan to continue to offer a competitive benefits package to attract and retain the best workers.”
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