Why Aflac

What is Voluntary Insurance?

American Family Life Assurance Compnay

Simply put, voluntary or supplemental insurance plans help people protect their financial wellbeing in the event of a serious accident or illness. —Voluntary insurance offers a way to stay ahead of the medical and out-of-pocket expenses that major medical insurance does not cover and that add up quickly after an accidental injury or illness. From emergency treatment and transportation costs to receive care, or your everyday bills, voluntary insurance pays cash benefits directly to the policyholder (unless otherwise assigned), and the policyholder decides how or when to use the money.

Takes a quick look at four popular policies:

• Accident Insurance
• Cancer Insurance
• Hospital Indemnity Insurance
• Short-term Disability Insurance

To see a full list of available Aflac policies, visit: http://www.aflac.com/individuals/policies 

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Voluntary insurance works with major medical coverage to provide an essential safety net 

Supplemental policies, like the ones offered by Aflac, work together with major medical insurance to help provide protection to policyholders. As health care costs continue to rise, these policies help provide an affordable extra layer of financial protection for your family. Unlike major medical insurance, these policies pay cash benefits directly to the policyholder (unless assigned otherwise) if they get sick or injured. 

While no one anticipates the unexpected, more than 38.9 million medically consulted injuries occur in a year.

These injuries pose more than simply a health risk, but also a risk to financial security. Illness or medical bills contributed to 62.1% of bankruptcies in 2007, and threequarters of these debtors had medical insurance.

Often, having these policies can save individuals and their families from out-of-pocket costs, unexpected debt and even bankruptcy — helping them to focus on getting better and getting back to work.

 More Relevant Than Ever 

Before Health care reform and increasing health care costs continue to drive demand for voluntary benefits — and for good reason. As the cost of health care rises, employees are shouldering both additional health care costs and decision-making responsibility. Individuals and their families also face more decisions as health care becomes more consumer-driven, and new options become available to them through health care reform. 

Even with a comprehensive major medical plan, the out-of-pocket costs (both medical and non-medical related) can be substantial. In fact, 44% of workers would have to use a credit card or borrow from friends or family to pay for out-of-pocket expenses associated with a serious illness or accident.

For many, voluntary benefits help solve a number of concerns and challenges that are surfacing during this time of health care and financial insecurity. Unlike major medical insurance, these supplemental policies pay cash benefits directly to the policyholder.  

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Employee Benefits Administration at NO COST

Make Employee Benefits more Attractive!
(NO COSTS, Click here for details)

by Robert Moskowitz on August 13, 2013

Benefits can help your small business attract — and keep — smart, talented, and reliable employees. But many entrepreneurs worry that offering substantial perks can cut into their relatively modest earnings.

“It’s a nasty choice: Offer juicy benefits and forgo profits, or cut back on bennies and risk losing your best employees,” notes Forbes.com’s Maureen Farrell, who asked experts in the field to define a well-balanced benefits package for small businesses. “The general consensus: To attract talent and compete effectively, entrepreneurs should offer health insurance, some life and disability insurance, and probably a retirement savings plan.”

But why stop there? Here are some additional ways you can increase the pull of your benefits package without bleeding your company dry.

1. Add wellness and HRA programs to your health benefits. Many employers offer health insurance, ranging from providing HMO or PPO coverage to help covering dental work and prescription drug costs. You can make your health care benefits significantly more attractive by adding wellness and reimbursement components.

Wellness offerings tend to reduce an employer’s health insurance expenses because they encourage and incentivize employees to take better care of themselves. Consider starting a program that helps staff members quit smoking, improve their diet and nutrition, increase their physical fitness, or seek counseling on ways to boost their overall well-being.

Another appealing benefit your company can offer is a Health Reimbursement Account. HRAs have no required minimums or maximums, and let business owners provide each employee with additional money (pre-tax for the employer, separate from and in addition to regular salary for the employee) to reimburse the employee for eligible health care expenses. (Tip: You can do this easily and inexpensively with the Intuit Health Debit Card.)

2. Add investment advice to your retirement package. Most employees recognize the importance of saving for their retirement. The trend currently favors defined contribution plans and 401(k) savings accounts. Some employers match each employee’s contributions, too, but this isn’t necessary.

Your small business can rise above the rest by supplementing these benefits with inexpensive but important extras, such as professional investment advice and assistance. Today, these services can be delivered online or in person and augmented by retirement readiness information and counseling.

3. Extend flex-time to telecommuting and compressed schedules. More than 85 percent of all U.S. companies now allow employees to sidestep the standard five-day, 40-hour workweek and put in their time more flexibly. Flex-time programs typically specify certain hours or days when every employee must be at the office and allow them to put in their remaining time whenever they’d like.

Beyond offering flex-time, you could offer employees the option of compressed schedules. Most commonly, this allows employees to log their standard 40 hours by working 10 hours a day for four days (or 13 hours a day for three days). This essentially results in longer weekends, which is a huge plus for some people, and helps the employer by making the job attractive to larger numbers of qualified people.

Telecommuting offers additional flexibility to your employees. By allowing staff to work some days or hours at or near home, without physically traveling to your business’s premises, you may have greater leverage in wooing top talent.

Only about 3.1 million employees consider themselves fulltime tele-commuters, according to Global Workplace Analytics. Nevertheless, eliminating just one day’s round-trip commute from each workweek can make a job more attractive and satisfying.

4. Support cross-training and professional development. Many employers recognize the advantages of helping employees pay for professional memberships, off-site conferences, training opportunities, or specialty certifications.

To one-up other companies, offer reimbursement for a wider range of skills, for comprehensive cross-training, and even for mentorship programs. These relatively inexpensive benefits allow your employees to pursue their interests and feel more satisfied in their careers while making themselves even more valuable to your business.

About Robert Moskowitz

Robert Moskowitz is an Emmy-winning author and editor with a knack for conveying complex and difficult topics in a friendly, down-to-earth style.

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Source:www.intuit.com