Voluntary

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is now offering its new Dental Prime and Complete programs on both a voluntary and employer-paid basis with three core plan designs to 40,000 small businesses and 79 chambers of commerce throughout Connecticut.

In a sign of the times, the 38 independent provider law firms associated with Pre-Paid Legal Services responded to more than 79,000 requests to handle debt-collection issues in the first half of 2010 – accounting for 7% of the 1.1 million overall requests for assistance during that timeframe.

Health care providers, attorneys and other service providers can breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Several leading service providers across the worksite-market landscape, hoping the economy heads northbound, are poised to reach higher ground in 2011. Consider a few of the most recent developments:

WageWorks Inc., which offers consumer-directed benefits solutions, recently acquired the tax-favored and benefits continuation administration business of Fringe Benefits Management Company (FBMC), which offers customized voluntary and core benefit products primarily in the public-sector market.

Just 39% of single and never-married employees have life insurance compared to 61% of all 2,071 working Americans responding to a recent online Harris Interactive survey for the Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company.

Employers with dental or vision benefits have gritted teeth and winced about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s impact on such coverage, but a recent Segal Co. analysis seeks to clear up any confusion about compliance.

Lists of New Year’s resolutions are unavoidable during this time of year – both in print and across the blogosphere. The same can be said about industry forecasts. One such prognostication that will pique the interest voluntary benefit plan proponents involves a bullish outlook on critical-illness insurance (CII) for insurance brokers in 2011.

Americans were estimated to spend an average of $688.87 each on holiday-related shopping, according the National Retail Federation. Now that the wrapping paper has been tossed and many holiday gifts have been exchanged or returned, there is still one big-ticket item many workers have yet to buy.

The employee benefits market in Southeast Michigan historically has been heavily union-oriented. As a result, the rich benefit packages had little need for voluntary coverage offerings such as hospital indemnity plans.