Imagine your business is thriving and growing. You’ve put in the long hours, missed moments with family and friends, and made personal sacrifices to make it a success. You don’t want something happening that can instantly wipe out all of your hard work.
That’s where voluntary benefits come in handy. Offering voluntary benefits can make employees’ lives easier and better. Look at some of the most popular voluntary benefits and how you can choose the right ones for your business.
What Are Voluntary Benefits?
Voluntary benefits are employee insurance typically offered through an employer but purchased by the employee at a reduced rate. This insurance policy can provide valuable protection for employees and their families.
The Advantages of Voluntary Benefits
Even with health insurance, the out-of-pocket costs of copayments, deductibles, and prescriptions can add up. That’s why many employers offer voluntary benefits. In addition, it can help your business by:
- Allowing employees to choose the coverage that best meets their needs.
- Attracting and retaining talented employees.
- Reducing the overall cost of healthcare for the company.
For these reasons, more and more employers are choosing voluntary insurance policies for their teams.
The Importance of Voluntary Benefits
Voluntary benefits are a good method for employers to show their staff that they care about their well-being. Workers who feel their employer cares about them are more likely to be engaged and productive at work.
In addition, voluntary benefits can be a valuable recruitment and retention tool, as they help to attract and retain employees. For all of these reasons, they’re an important part of any benefits package.
Types of Voluntary Benefits
There are multiple types of voluntary benefits, and each can be tailored to fit the needs of your employees. Some of the most popular types of voluntary benefits include:
Critical Illness Insurance
What Is It?
Critical illness insurance provides financial protection if the policyholder is diagnosed with a critical illness. Common critical illnesses include cancer, heart attack, and stroke.
While some health insurance plans supply coverage for the treatment of a critical illness, they often limit the amount of coverage available. This insurance can help fill this gap by providing a lump sum benefit that can be used to cover medical treatment fees, lost wages, and other expenses.
How Does It Work?
- You’ll need to decide how much coverage you want for your employees and what type of policy is right for you.
- You’ll pay your premiums just like you would with any other type of insurance policy.
- If someone’s ever diagnosed with a covered illness, the insurance company will pay them the specified benefit amount.
Why Is It Important?
A severe illness can strike when you least expect it. And dealing with it can be daunting. If you or someone who works for you is diagnosed with a critical illness, the last thing you want to worry about is how you’ll pay for treatment.
This type of insurance can help take the financial stress out of a difficult situation and allow the person to focus on what’s most important: getting well.
How Is It Beneficial?
Being diagnosed with a critical illness is devastating enough, but the financial burden that comes with it can be crippling. For many people, critical illness insurance offers security in knowing they’ll have financial assistance if they ever face major health care.
Coverage
It’s important to understand that coverage can be limited, depending on your premium. The more the insurance covers, the more you’ll need to pay.
The coverage can also be limited by the policy’s specifications. Some illnesses will only be covered according to the specific conditions and restrictions stated in the policy. This could include age reduction restrictions, only advanced or life-threatening illnesses.
It’s crucial to read your policy carefully and ensure you understand what it does and doesn’t cover. Don’t wait until it’s too late to find out that your critical illness insurance doesn’t cover what you thought it did.
Eligibility
While the specifics of each policy vary, some general eligibility requirements are typically needed to qualify for critical illness insurance:
- Have no preexisting medical conditions
- No chronic illnesses
- Involve medical crises such as heart attacks, strokes, renal failures, cancer, paralysis, and a few others
Hospital Indemnity Insurance
What Is It?
Hospital indemnity insurance is a type of insurance that can help cover the costs of unexpected accidents or sudden illnesses that result in a hospital stay. This type of insurance can be a great way to protect yourself financially if you’re ever hospitalized.
How Does It Work?
It’s necessary to understand how this type of insurance works before you purchase it. Hospital indemnity insurance is usually sold as an add-on to your health insurance policy. It will not replace your health insurance, but it can supplement it.
When choosing a hospital indemnity policy, you must decide how much coverage you need and whether you want a policy that covers the employee’s family.
How Is It Beneficial?
No one knows when they might find themselves in the hospital. No matter how healthy you are, an unexpected illness or accident can happen anytime. For this reason, it’s important to have hospital indemnity insurance.
Hospital indemnity insurance can give you peace of mind knowing that you and your family are financially protected in the event of a hospital stay.
Coverage
Basic hospital indemnity insurance can pay for things like:
- Hospital confinement
- ICU (Intensive Care Unit) confinement
- CCU (Critical Care Unit) confinement
And for extended plans, they can also include:
- Outpatient surgery
- Continuous care
- Outpatient X-rays
- Laboratory procedures
- Outpatient diagnostic imaging procedures
- Ambulances
- Emergency rooms
- Physician office visits
Accident Insurance
What Is It?
No one plans to have an accident, but unfortunately, they happen all the time. The costs can quickly increase, whether a car crash, a slip, a fall, or any other type of accident.
Accident insurance is a type of insurance that helps cover the cost of medical care, lost wages, and other expenses that can result from an accident. It’s an important safety net for anyone who wants to protect themselves and their family from the financial fallout of an unexpected accident.
How Does It Work?
A few different accident insurance policies are available, but they all work the same way.
You pay a monthly premium, and the insurance company agrees to pay a set amount of money if you’re involved in an accident. Your coverage depends on several factors, including age, health, and lifestyle.
How Is It Beneficial?
Some people may think that insurance is a waste of money. Why pay for something you may never use? But the truth is, accidents happen every day. And when they do, accident insurance can provide much-needed financial assistance.
- Unlike health insurance, which only covers medical bills, accident insurance directly pays you a cash benefit. This means you can use the money to cover any expenses you incur due to your accident, from medical bills to lost wages.
- You don’t have to submit receipts or go through a claims process to immediately get the money you need.
- Many accident insurance policies offer additional coverage for children participating in organized sports. So if your child is accidentally injured while playing soccer or basketball, you won’t have to worry about how you will pay the medical bills.
Coverage
Because being in an accident is never a fun experience, accident insurance can help ease the emotional and financial burden that comes along with it. It’s important to know what your accident insurance coverage includes to ensure that you get the care and treatment you need and that you’re properly protected.
Accident insurance usually includes coverage for:
- Medical treatment: It includes doctor’s visits, hospital stays, and medication.
- Medical services: It includes ambulance rides, ER visits, and surgery.
- Hospitalization: It includes room and board, as well as any necessary medical treatment.
- Injuries: It includes rehabilitation, physical therapy, and transportation to and from appointments.
Eligibility
While businesses may feel that they don’t need this type of coverage, many different groups of people can benefit from it.
Businesses that have dangerous work environments that involve physical labor, hazardous materials, or dangerous activities are the ones that need it the most. Such as:
- Construction companies
- Manufacturers
- Businesses that require employees to travel frequently
- Companies that provide services to clients or customers in their own homes or offices
How Can You Get Voluntary Insurance For Your Employees?
Suppose you’re considering adding a voluntary insurance policy to your employee benefits package. In that case, you should keep a few things in mind.
- Choose the right insurer.
- Make sure you understand the different types of coverage available.
- Consider how much you can afford to contribute to the policy.
- Communicate the details of the policy to your employees so that they can make an informed decision about whether or not to enroll
Get Your Team Covered Against Unexpected Harm
Workers today are more health-conscious than ever before, and they’re increasingly looking for employers who offer competitive health and benefits packages. Voluntary insurance can be a great way to attract and retain top talent. Still, it can also be complex and costly.
That’s where Nesso Benefits comes in. We’re experts in the insurance field, and we can help you design a plan that meets the needs of your employees. We’ll work with you to understand your business and determine which types of coverage will suit you best. Contact Nesso Group today to learn more about navigating the insurance system.
