There are some things that a traditional health plan just might not cover, that’s where having supplemental health benefits can be extremely helpful. Supplemental health benefits can be an added layer of protection to help cover what a traditional health insurance plan doesn’t. Offering supplemental benefits is an excellent way to strengthen your benefits package and help protect your employees’ finances.
What Are Supplemental Health Benefits?
Supplemental benefits are added insurance you can purchase to help cover additional medical costs – such as expensive events like accidents or hospital stays. Supplemental insurance can help pay for expenses that are not covered by your primary insurance policy. They are designed to enhance and complement your traditional health insurance plan, not intended to replace your primary insurance.
With the rising cost of healthcare, many people are opting to purchase a supplemental health benefits policy. Employers offering supplemental health benefits to their employees are able to do so without adding cost to the company or affecting their bottom line.
Types of Supplemental Benefits
Supplemental benefits can be either insurance or non-insurance products presented to employees to pick and choose from for elective purposes. Some of the traditional offerings of supplemental benefits can include dental, vision, disability, life insurance, critical illness, accident, and hospital indemnity. The non-traditional supplemental benefits can include group legal plans, pet insurance, financial planning, employee discount programs, educational and adoption assistance, and identity theft insurance.
Hospital Indemnity, Critical Illness, and Accident Insurance
Here are some key components to hospital indemnity insurance, critical illness, and accident insurance:
Hospital Indemnity
- Helps supplement the front end of the medical deductible on HDHPs
- Hospital and ICU admission benefit up to $10,000 – always guaranteed issue.
- Sickness-only coverage option to ease bundling with an Accident Plan
- Pregnancy can be covered with a 9 month or NO waiting period
Critical Illness
- Lump-sum benefits available up to $50,000 with guaranteed issue amounts based on group size
- Cancer benefits can be excluded to ease bundling with a stand-alone cancer plan
- Recurrence and spouse coverage available at 50% or 100%
- Benefits payable upon diagnosis of a covered illness
- Pays for the first occurrence of a critical illness while insured, with the option to include recurrence benefits
- No lifetime maximum. Benefits are payable on all conditions
- Children are covered at no additional cost, and no health questions are required
Accident Insurance
- Scheduled indemnity plan available in three coverage levels: value, advantage, and premier
- Simple four-tier rate structure, with 24-hour or off-the-job design options
- Child organized sport benefit
- Optional AD&D, hospital confinement for sickness, and disability riders
- Unlimited number of accidents covered per year
Key Features
One of the most appealing aspects of supplemental health benefits, other than having additional coverage, is that all benefits are paid directly to the employees. They are also appealing due to their cost efficiency and portability. The products do not change in price or benefit upon porting and the plans don’t term when the master contract is terminated.
And in the event that your employees are seriously injured or sick, traditional health insurance plans don’t necessarily help with all of the bills. Traditional health insurance plans primarily focus on medical bills, but if you’re unable to work for an extended amount of time due to an injury or illness, then that can be detrimental to your finances.
Offering supplemental health benefits has become increasingly popular among employers because it’s a great way to boost work-life balance and it costs little or nothing to offer. It also helps build loyalty and retention, reducing employee turnover and associated costs.
Conclusion
Many people think they are completely covered through their primary health insurance plan but when an accident or illness occurs, that’s not always the case. Offering your employees supplemental health benefits can create a better work environment while enhancing wellness.
Alltrust Insurance can assist you and your business today by helping educate your employees on the details of the supplemental health benefits being offered. We encourage a space for cultivating and discussing the specifics of benefits coverage. Contact us today to get you and your employees covered.
