In the wake of rising health insurance costs, employees are paying a higher share of premium for employer-provided health insurance, while simultaneously taking on higher out-of-pocket costs. These expenses can total thousands of dollars per year. This increased financial responsibility by employees, as well as related out-of-pocket expenses associated with a critical medical condition, comes at a time when many families and individuals are struggling with having little to no emergency cash reserves.

In this environment, critical illness insurance can be the difference between weathering a health-related financial storm or staggering under the financial burden. However, employees can't buy what they don't appreciate or understand.

Surveys show there is lack of understanding of voluntary benefits in general, of which critical illness is a growing part. For example, two-thirds of employers were not satisfied with employee enrollment in voluntary benefits, according to the latest annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study by MetLife. More than half of the employees surveyed did not fully understand how their benefits worked or how those benefits could meet their needs.