ACA triggers voluntary benefit sales boom

Voluntary benefit sales are enjoying rapid growth as employers prepare for the impact of the Affordable Care Act by revamping their medical plan designs to include more products such as accident and critical illness benefits.

New annualized premium of voluntary benefits purchased at the worksite grew 9% in 2013, totaling $4.3 billion, a LIMRA survey shows.

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Voluntary health product sales were $2.6 billion in 2013, a 13% increase from 2012.  Accident, critical illness and vision products grew by double-digits for the third straight year to drive overall growth in the voluntary health market, LIMRA says.

Term and whole life insurance sales had dropped for the first nine months of the year, but rebounded in the fourth quarter. Total life sales increased 14% in the fourth quarter to end the year up 2% with sales reaching $1.4 billion, the survey finds. 

Earlier in 2013, LIMRA released a survey of 800 employers to find out how they planned to navigate the impact of the ACA. Three out of four said they have changed or intend to change their medical plan design in the near future, with cost shifting named the most common strategy.

With cost shifting and other plan design changes, voluntary benefits become the best option for employees to maintain their overall insurance coverage, LIMRA says. 

The 2013 U.S. Worksite Sales Survey summarizes voluntary benefit product sales of 43 U.S. companies, including 20 of the top 25 carriers.

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