Employees will be able to get life insurance rates based on their individual circumstances — instead of being lumped together with their coworkers — thanks to a new partnership between benefits platform Ease and insurance company Ethos.
“Our mission is to give millions of families access to the protection they need via simple, ethically designed life insurance,” says Joe Schmidt, head of strategy and partnerships at Ethos. “This new partnership with industry leader Ease will help us give many more employers and employees affordable access to modern policies.”
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Ease was designed for insurance brokers and employers, and currently services 65,000 small and medium-sized businesses. The San Francisco-based company decided to partner with Ethos after noticing a spike in life insurance enrollment on their site; 11% more employees enrolled in term life insurance between 2017 and 2018, according to data provided by the company. The news comes after Ethos announced in August that it received $60 million in Series C funding, led by GV (formerly Google Ventures).
“Ease is continually looking to bring the most effective and efficient offerings to small and medium-sized businesses,” says David Reid, CEO and co-founder of Ease. “We’re excited to add Ethos to our offering.”
Typically, employer provided life insurance is calculated based on the risk of the overall workforce — or, the cumulation of individual employees’ existing conditions and smoker status as well as other health conditions. Whereas Ethos provides employees custom rates based off their individual circumstances, which Schmidt says, could result in lower monthly premiums.
Life insurance is a relatively standard benefit and the vast majority of employers (82%) offer it to workers, according to data from the Society for Human Resource Management. More than half (69%) also cover life insurance for dependents, SHRM reports.
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Under the new collaboration, most employees won’t need to take a medical exam or blood test to qualify for the insurance through Ethos. Schmidt says each individual employee’s rate is set for life, even if they change jobs.
“We’re eager to leverage that expertise to help people find the right insurance offering for their unique life circumstances,” Schmidt says.
