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Producer Connection is Standard Insurance Company's quarterly online newsletter for Employee Benefits producers.
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what you think of Producer Connection and how we can make it better.
Conventional wisdom in the employee benefits arena is that an adviser must first focus on getting a client's medical plan sorted out, and then move on to “ancillary” coverage like disability and life insurance. With potential changes to the healthcare regime in the U.S., including some employers discontinuing group medical coverage or the possibility of moving to a single-payer system with mandatory coverage for individuals, the argument in favor of a traditional, employer-paid disability plan is stronger than ever. Consider making the disability plan the first thing you discuss with employers.
An employer-paid disability plan is sometimes the only part of the benefits package in which every employee participates. Even employers that offer all employees health coverage often have multiple medical plans, and not everyone enrolls; just 73% of workers with access to health coverage participated in their employer's plan, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released in March 2007. Not so with a noncontributory or buy-up disability plan. In the majority of cases, every employee is automatically covered by the same plan.
This makes the disability plan an ideal platform for delivering a number of value-added programs and services, like a wellness program, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) administration or Employee Assistance Program (EAP), to a clients' entire employee population.