To some clients, offering disability insurance checks a box. These clients know offering short — and/or long-term disability — helps attract and retain talent and provides financial support to employees who need to take time off work due to injury or illness. But do they know that their disability carrier may have benefits for them, too?
Benefits beyond income protection
This May, during Disability Insurance Awareness Month, steer your disability insurance conversations beyond the typical income protection route. While discussing income protection helps reinforce a disability product's overall role, you can secure the sale by calling out additional benefits that disability carriers provide employers.
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Some carriers have services that help enhance employee productivity and take on some of the administrative work required to help with an employee accommodation. It's easy for your clients to see disability insurance as just a commodity, but these three aspects can help differentiate a disability product.
Increasing employee productivity
If an employee is attempting to work through a medical condition, some disability carriers offer consultants to help analyze the situation and find a solution. These consultants step into the shoes of the human resources manager and work directly with the employee to discuss the employees' condition, connect with the employee's medical provider and recommend an appropriate accommodation — taking the employee's job function and workspace into full consideration.
Easing administrative burden
Time spent sourcing equipment, making phone calls about specifications and submitting expense reports can quickly add up. A recent survey conducted by The Standard found that HR managers spend approximately eight hours per month assisting employees with disabilities — which can take time away from other duties, such as hiring, overall benefits administration and managing performance issues. Consultants from a disability carrier often can do that legwork for an employer, helping to manage an employee accommodation from start to finish.
Coordinating benefits from other carriers
Sometimes, the best solution for an employee could be provided in tandem with another benefit in an employer's offering. This can include benefits or resources that come with health insurance, workers' compensation, employee assistance, wellness or disease management programs. To ensure employees are receiving the appropriate care, a disability consultant can contact other providers to coordinate these benefits, saving time for you and your client.
Not all disability products are created equal. Introducing additional ways a disability carrier can take work off a client's plate underscores the value of a comprehensive disability offering and your position as a consultative resource.
Brian Kost is the program director for Standard Insurance Company's Workplace Possibilities program.
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