Voluntary

California regulators subpoenaed MetLife Inc. and plan a hearing on the company's practices involving the payment of benefits after learning of an insured’s death.

Most critical illness insurance policyholders are 55 or older; men buy higher coverage amounts than women; and claimants overwhelmingly seek benefits for cancer over all other conditions, suggests a new comprehensive study of more than 20,500 individual policies purchased last year.

The economy still may be stuck in neutral, but industry brokers, carriers and vendors are bullish about the future of voluntary benefits.

When it comes to addressing end-of-life needs and services, most people know it's important to plan ahead in order to make sure that their family will not be burdened with overwhelming decisions during a difficult time. Even so, many people put it off because they would rather not have to think about the topic.

Years ago when I approached a crusty old broker from down south about enrolling his voluntary benefits cases, he told me he didn't sell voluntary because, "Boy, the juice ain't worth the squeeze."

New research from MetLife spotlights a disconnect between the perceptions of voluntary benefits held by employers and employees.

Distractions while driving come in all shapes and sizes: text messages, phone calls, Internet, radio dials, television screens, video games, screaming children, attractive fellow motorists and passersby, etc. It's amazing in this day and age that we ever actually get from Point A to Point B.

Kelly Wilson is a return-to-work success story. In January 2009, her beloved father - the man she calls her best friend - became ill. He was in and out of the hospital several times before he died in July that year.

Health care reform has been good for business - true or false? These days, it still depends on whom you ask. Ask a producer who sells critical care insurance, though, and the answer you'll probably get is "true."

Voluntary benefits is often referred to as "worksite marketing." Many carriers, in fact, refer to their voluntary products as "worksite voluntary benefits." Recent developments in enrollment technology, however, are rapidly making the term "worksite" obsolete and no longer relevant to the voluntary benefits process. The term "worksite" derives from how these benefits have had to be enrolled. As products that are voluntarily purchased by employees, the only consistently effective means of presenting (and selling) them have been one-on-one employee meetings with licensed benefit counselors (enrollers) at the workplace during the workday.