So much attention is spent looking at medical benefits and ways to reduce costs, stop inflation and increase employee satisfaction, we sometimes take our eye off other benefits or what I like to call “ancillary” benefits.  Although not as high profile as medical coverages, ancillary coverages such as dental, life, disability, accident and critical illness insurance all play a role in protecting employees from different risks we encounter during our journey through life. 

Some things to consider as you look at 2012 may be:

1. If as an employer you can not afford to provide these benefits at this time on a group basis, have you considered voluntary group products where the employee pays the premium but usually at a lower rate than can be found individually?
2. Do your life insurance coverages include the employee’s spouse and children?
3. Has disability coverage been integrated with your sick leave policy and requirements of FMLA?
4. How broad is your long-term disability coverage, should employees have supplements?
5. If you have raised your medical deductibles, have you considered critical illness coverages to supplement the additional deductible burden placed on the employees?

The time may be now to shop these types of benefits, especially since the competition for good employees may heat up as the recession cools down and unemployment rates decrease. 

If you'd like to look at what ancillary employee benefits options are available for your employees, call our office at 800-648-0856 or email me at garyc@lymansheets.com.
 

Gary Climes is Vice President of Employee Benefits at Lyman & Sheets. He has more than 25 years of financial, management and leadership experience in the accounting, finance and health insurance industries. Email Gary at garyc@lymansheets.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.