Voluntary

September marks the observance of Life Insurance Awareness Month, coordinated by the nonprofit LIFE Foundation and supported by more than 100 of the nation's leading insurance companies and industry groups, to shine a spotlight on the growing crisis of too many Americans not having adequate life insurance protection. According to the industry research group LIMRA, 30% of U.S. households have no life insurance whatsoever. Today, there are 11 million fewer American households covered by life insurance compared with six years ago. The bottom line: A majority of families either have no life insurance or not enough, leaving them one accident or terminal illness away from a financial catastrophe for their loved ones. Help educate your employees this month on the value of this important benefit. Learn more at lifehappens.org/life-insurance-awareness-month.

An online cartoon is changing the way employees think about voluntary benefits.

According to a new LIMRA report, “Voluntary Worksite Benefits: Penetration and Market Potential,” almost one-third of all employers are considering offering new voluntary benefits to replace existing benefits that are paid entirely or in part by the employer. This would potentially affect between 19 million and 45 million employees over the next two years, LIMRA estimates. Interest in voluntary is particularly high among large organizations (1,000 or more employees); half of these firms show interest in transitioning their existing benefits to voluntary.

Facebook is on the move...literally. In relocating its headquarters campus, the company recently redesigned and retrofitted the former Sun Microsystems campus in Menlo Park, Calif., to LEED Gold standard while also integrating attributes of its own culture into the retrofit. New open office spaces reflect Facebook's ways: flexible, comfortable and social. The company greatly values its employees' comfort in and preferences for their work spaces. It sees its built environment as a prominent contributor to their productivity.

More employers are slashing budgets, which often equals cutting benefits. No more 401(k) matching, a high-deductible health plan becomes the only option, and money gets tight and employees see it and feel it. Enter the group legal plan. It doesn’t cancel out employees’ sticker shock over an HDHP, but it does mean that at a relatively low cost, an employee can see an attorney at, say, $15.95 a month.

Almost half of employers surveyed in July by Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company say they plan to add voluntary benefits to their plans within the next year.

For many employees faced with the prospect of having to save for rising healthcare costs and for retirement, it's important to understand that it doesn't necessarily have to be an either/or decision.

Although both fixed indemnity and expense incurred limited medical plans continue to be impacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, fixed indemnity plans are weathering the storm relatively intact, while the expense incurred structure has taken a beating, experts say. Fixed-indemnity plans do not have to comply with PPACA regulations because they do not mimic major medical insurance policies as expense incurred plans do.

The traditional model of the benefits brokerage is terminal and on life support. As I talk with brokers and consult with agencies across the U.S., there's a growing desperation as they realize that "carrying quotes" isn't enough anymore. Even modifying the plan design and then shopping the medical for the lowest quotes no longer will get - or keep - the account.

An online cartoon is changing the way employees think about voluntary benefits.