For an employer, few things are more unsettling than receiving an unexpected call or email that an employee has been hospitalized. Often, when someone is admitted to the hospital unexpectedly, many questions start going through a supervisor's head. What happened? Will he or she be OK? How long will the recovery take? Are there long-term implications? 

An employee may have many of the same questions, with the added burden of financial concerns. How long will I be off work? What about my family's needs? How will I cover my deductible? Will all of the treatment or medicine be covered by insurance? How much will subsequent treatment and medicine cost? The list goes on.

These questions may intensify with the increased popularity of high-deductible health plans (HDHP) as participants are required to pay the deductible, which can be thousands of dollars, before their insurance starts paying. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that among people with health insurance, 1 in 5 working-age Americans reported having trouble paying medical bills in the past year. Of those insured with medical coverage, 63 percent reported using most or all of their savings to cover the costs. Fortunately, these gaps in coverage can be reduced through the purchase of voluntary insurance benefits.