In recent years, rising health care costs have left much to be desired for both employers and employees.  For example, some employers may want to increase compensation for their employees but could be struggling due to costs impacting their bottom line, while employees want better benefits packages to help protect their lifestyles. As you work with clients to help tackle these tough situations, here are some tips to offer clients on how to keep rising costs at bay while still offering a competitive benefits packages for employees:

Increase the diversity of benefits offerings — include voluntary insurance. Today's workforce wants choice. According to the 2017 Aflac WorkForces Report, 81 percent of employees see a growing need for voluntary insurance benefits, and 90 percent consider voluntary insurance at least somewhat part of a comprehensive benefits program. There are voluntary insurance options to supplement any strategy. Products such as accident, critical illness/cancer, hospital indemnity, life and disability can give employees more control in selecting benefits that will best protect their lifestyles.

Think differently about the power of benefits. Many employers have seen a rise in workers' compensation claims filed in recent years. By offering accident insurance, employers can help minimize the risk of worker's compensation claims and decrease their overall costs. In fact, after offering voluntary accident insurance to employees, 51 percent of respondents said there was a decline in worker's compensation claims, according to the 2017 Aflac WorkForces report.