LIMRA experts "cautiously" see a lot of opportunity in the voluntary benefits marketplace, says Ron Neyer, assistant research director at LIMRA in Windsor, Connecticut. Approximately 15 percent of employers in a recent LIMRA study said they are either "very" or "extremely likely" to add a new voluntary benefit over next couple of years, and about 25 percent are "somewhat likely." The percentage of employers who plan to replace an employer-paid or contributory benefit with a voluntary arrangement is lower—approximately 5 percent were "very" or "extremely likely" to, compared to 12 percent in 2010.

"We see that as a good thing, as employers seem a little less focused on cost-shifting than they did several years ago," Neyer says. "As the job market becomes more competitive, employers become more mindful about how voluntary benefits can improve their ability to attract and retain employees and boost worker morale and job satisfaction."

Another significant driver of increased interest in voluntary products is the advent of private exchanges, explains Craig Hasday, president of Frenkel Benefits in New York, which offers the Frenkel Benefits Marketplace exchange. More employers are moving toward online enrollment platforms that are considering defined contribution plans, which also enable them to add voluntary products.

"These platforms are PPACA-compliant and reduce the amount of administration burden that is being placed upon them," Hasday says. "Private exchanges are starting to proliferate, particularly single-employer platforms that enable employers to preserve their risk pool, and that is really a springboard for voluntary products once the floodgate is open."

Employers are starting to say they are "happy" to add prepaid legal plans, home and auto insurance plans, computer purchase deals via payroll deductions — "whatever might make employees more receptive over time," he says.

"Having such products on exchanges gives employers and employees more flexibility when choosing benefits, and I think we're finally going to gain significant traction," Hasday says.

Here are some trends and products you should be watching this coming year.

1 Life and short-term disability insurance

Life insurance has been relatively flat over the past few years, but sales represent a much bigger base, making it more difficult to generate substantial growth, Neyer says. "Carriers have already reached a pretty good saturation point at the large-clients base, so they're just keeping up at that level," he says. Employers switching carriers represents a growing percentage of the new business written.

Short-term disability sales have been growing at a small clip for the past few years, but long -term disability sales have been "a little more choppy," Neyer says. For 2015, "if recent history holds true," an increase in new business is likely for both short-term and long-term disability.

2 Critical illness, accident, hospital indemnity and other medical supplemental plans

Life and short-term disability have historically been the most popular products, but the highest-growth product is critical illness, Brazzell says. Accident and hospital indemnity did not have as high growth, but she believes that's "going to turn around," as employees deal with higher out-of-pocket costs as they go into high-deductible medical plans.

"If Congress does allow for the 'copper plan' on the exchanges, with even higher deductibles in return for lower premiums, that will help the sales of voluntary gap-filling plans even more, but it's too difficult to speculate whether or not that will pass," Brazzell says.

Some companies were likely holding off adding some of these voluntary medical coverage products for most of last year due to health care reform, but sales were strong in the fourth quarter, and the momentum has continued into this year, Neyer says.

"It's difficult to predict next year because of the looming employer mandate making things a little more uncertain," he says. "But since it was supposed to go into effect last year, perhaps some employers have already planned [for it], leading to the recent surge in these supplemental products. I don't see a decrease in the near future, but the climate can change quickly as health care reform requirements continue to unfold."

While critical illness plans are gaining in popularity, life and disability are still the products most people buy, Hasday says.

3 Vision and dental

Vision products have also been growing by double-digits, but it's a small base in total sales numbers—representing roughly 4 percent of 2013 new voluntary health business, so it's easier to skew percentages, Neyer says.

Dental insurance is one of the top voluntary products sold by benefits brokers, and nearly a third of employers offer the products, according to Eastbridge. Next year's sales should follow the same pattern, Brazzell says.

4 Legal plans

The big issue all over the country is identity theft, which is "out of control" due to the amount of data breaches, says Doug Kleinsmith, president and chief executive officer of Legal Benefit Consultants Inc. in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The crime rings behind these breaches are more sophisticated today than they've ever been, and they understand how much easier it is to steal data than sell drugs.

"Today, employees are more likely to understand that they need some kind of protection from identity theft—and it doesn't matter if they live in a large city of 2.5 million people or a small town of 25,000," Kleinsmith says. "Target, Michaels and other big-box retailers that have suffered data breaches are located everywhere."

The coverage his firm offers through Legal Shield/Kroll includes full restoration services from any type of ID theft. Legal services also are necessary in cases of ID theft when a victim is wrongfully arrested and thrown in jail for a crime the thief actually committed.

Another huge trend going into 2015 is the complexity of the U.S. legal system as it relates to PPACA. Businesses are continually confused about what they—and their employees—need to do to comply with PPACA. For example, employees are confused about their obligations to also cover their college-aged children if they are younger than 26.

"We have seen a huge uptick in legal services as employees seek attorneys to help employees with these questions and all types of life issues," Kleinsmith says.

Some demographics can benefit nicely with legal plans, such as blue-collar middle-income workforces, but not very low-paid workforces or professional and executive high-income workforces, Hasday says. The most popular uses for legal plans are for home purchase closings and the drafting of wills.