Haven’t Marketed Your Supplemental Disability Insurance Plan Lately?
Employers, do you offer a Supplemental Long-Term Disability Insurance plan as a benefit? If you do, congratulations! You are in a class of Employers that believes in offering a strong benefits package, to reward your key employees.
You’ve recognized that Group LTD alone can’t fully address the income requirements of your highly compensated employees. You understand risk diversification is an effective tool in your disability benefit strategy. And you offer a strong benefits program, to reward your most valued employees.
But when was the last time you completed a thorough review or marketing of your Supplemental Disability Insurance plan? You review your health insurance, STD/LTD/Life, and possibly your voluntary benefits, at least every other year. So, why not review and market your Supplemental Disability Insurance plan?
Yes, most Supplemental Disability plans employ a “non-can” rate structure. This means that the products rates are filed with the State(s) DOI and can’t be increased for any reason. In addition, the insurance carrier can’t cancel the individual contracts/policies which make up the benefit plan, for any reason. But, the Employer, and the Employees, are not bound to this “non-can” provision, and can terminate the coverage at any time.
Why would an Employer want to cancel, or replace, a Supplemental Disability Insurance plan? Some reasons include securing more competitive pricing, modernizing benefit plan provisions, negotiate a higher Guarantee Issue maximum, streamlining enrollment/new hire onboarding process, and leveraging improved administrative efficiencies.
Pricing – savings between 20% to 50% from current premium.
Increase benefit maximum/guarantee issue amount.
To ensure protection levels are keeping up with rising incomes and inflation.
Audit coverage:
Covered compensation: does your plan cover bonus compensation, commission, and K-1 earnings, in addition to base salary?
Definition of disability – does it align with your industry, and how your employees are paid? Is a loss of earnings required, or not?
Benchmark plan design against peers
Modernize benefit provisions, to include:
Mental/Nervous/Drug/Alcohol Protection for Full Benefit Duration
Removal of the 24-month limitation, so disabilities caused by mental/nervous/drug/alcohol are treated like “any other disability”
Long-term Care protection during the working years
Enhanced Paid Family Leave protection to care for family members
Serious Illness/Critical Illness protection helps with out-of-pocket expenses for disabilities resulting from a heart attack, cancer, or stroke.
NO Pre-existing condition limitation
Recovery Benefit continues benefit payments when an employee returns to work full-time following a disability but still experiences an income loss.
Important protection for employees that are paid commission or bonus income or are accounts receivable occupations (i.e. attorneys).
Process Improvements: onboard new eligible employees via census enrollment.
The days of collecting individual enrollment applications are over.
Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI) vs. Guarantee Issue (GI)
GSI: 180 Day Active at Work requirement, which could result in an employee decline.
GI: Remove the 180 Day Active at Work requirement and replace it with a 1 Day Active at Work requirement, to align with Group STD/LTD/Life.
Navis Benefits Group specializes in Supplemental Disability Insurance Programs. With 29 years of specializing in Supplemental Disability Programs, including 25 years as an Executive Disability Insurance Consultant for the #1 provider of Supplemental Disability Insurance plans, Jamie is well positioned to assist you in the marketing of your current program. He’s worked with Fortune 500 Companies, Top AM 100 Law Firms, large Healthcare Organizations, Financial Institutions, and small professional employer organizations to achieve significant savings, process improvements, and benefit enhancements. Reach out to Navis Benefits Group, for a complete review of your Supplemental Disability Insurance plan.
