Group voluntary plan design stabilizes benefit costs, allows for
employee choice
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
A new disability insurance offering from Unum (NYSE: UNM) simplifies
benefits decision-making, while allowing employees to easily choose the
financial protection and price that’s right for them.
Kathy Plummer, director of disability product development for Unum (Photo: Business Wire)
“Only about a third of workers today have access to disability benefits
at work, yet almost all employees want this coverage available,” said
Kathy Plummer, director of disability product development. “The newest
addition to our disability product portfolio will help employers bridge
this gap.”
Unum’s newest plan designs are voluntary – allowing employers to make
coverage available to their entire workforce and designed to let
employees choose from the coverage options at affordable group rates.
This new offering reflects the growing trend of employers and employees
sharing the costs and decisions about benefits coverage.
Employers choose to offer short term disability, long term disability or
both, along with a few other options:
-
Whether premiums are shared or 100% employee-paid
-
The benefit choices and maximum benefit amounts.
Then employees choose whether to participate, select the benefit amount
option that is best for them, and select the elimination period on short
term disability, if available.
The need for disability income protection is significant. Three-quarters
of workers today do not have enough emergency savings to cover six
months or more of their expenses, according to a Bankrate.com survey.1
And half of all households could not raise $2,000 within a month if they
needed to.2
“If unexpectedly sidelined by illness or injury, many workers would face
significant financial strain,” Plummer said. “They need our help, and
this new offering helps connect the dots between this clear need and the
provision of adequate coverage.”
1 Bankrate, “June 2014 Financial Security Index Charts,”
(2014; accessed Jun. 25, 2014), http://www.bankrate.com/finance/consumer-index/financial-security-charts-0614.aspx
2Ruth Helman et. al, “2013 Retirement Confidence Survey:
Perceived Savings Needs Outpace Reality for Many,” EBRI Issue Brief
(no. 384, 2013).
ABOUT UNUM
Unum
is a leading provider of financial protection benefits through the
workplace. The disability insurance leader in the U.S. for 38 years,
Unum’s portfolio of financial protection products also includes life,
accident and critical illness, which help protect millions of working
people and their families in the event of an illness or injury. In 2014,
Unum paid $5.6 billion in benefits to more than 525,000 individuals and
their families.
For more information visit us at www.unum.com
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and LinkedIn.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150225006133/en/
Unum
MC Guenther, 423-294-6108
Toll free: 866-750-8686
mguenther@unum.com
Source: Unum