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The Advantages of Group Voluntary Insurance & Employee Benefit Plans
Group voluntary insurance and voluntary employee benefit programs allow
an employer the option of providing a total benefits package or supplementing
an existing package for their employees at no additional costs to the employer.
A wide array of traditional coverages are available on a voluntary
| A total
of 42 percent of compensation goes to benefits, according to the
Society of Human Resource Management 2004 Benefit Survey. Out of
that 42 percent, 22 percent are comprised of voluntary benefits,
while the remaining 20 percent are mandatory benefits. |
basis,
including long-term care, life, disability, dental, vision and prescription,
just to name a few.
Through a voluntary
plan, premiums can be deducted directly from an employee’s
paycheck (payroll deducted) on a payroll cycle of the employer’s
choosing (weekly, biweekly or monthly).
Below are just a few of the advantages an employer will realize by offering
a voluntary insurance and employee benefit plan to their employees:
1) Reduce
rising benefit costs to the employer:
With the rising cost of
health insurance and other coverages a voluntary benefit plan can help
to reduce
overhead caused by sky-rocketing premiums. The employer does not pay for
voluntary benefit program premiums - the employee does. If an employee wishes
to select a certain voluntary benefit, the cost of the premium is deducted
out of their paycheck.
Numerous coverages
can be added to an existing plan to help reduce costs such as critical
illness protection, health savings
accounts (HSAs), disability
and many more.
Another distinct
cost saving mechanism offered by group voluntary products is that by utilizing
the purchasing power of your group, the employees
get
access to benefits at low group rates (not at individual rates).
2) Simplify
payments with payroll deduction:
Payroll deducted plans allow for simplified premium payment since payments
are automatically taken out of an employees paycheck. There are no direct
bills sent to the employee.
Voluntary
plans also allow the employee the option of paying small installment
payments for their coverage (premiums
can be deducted on a weekly, bi-weekly
or monthly basis), thereby allowing the employee to better administer
their funds.
Employees
can inquire about coverages through their agent or directly with the
carrier, thereby reducing the administrative costs
and inconvenience
to the employer.
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