Brokers and employers went into this past employee benefits open enrollment season armed with entirely new playbooks. One key area of focus was voluntary benefits, the need for which have become more evident during the pandemic. According to new data from Aon, employers offering voluntary benefits increased 27% during the past enrollment period.
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"The biggest shift we saw in the last open enrollment cycle was the addition of voluntary benefits because they had little to no budget impact for employers," said Dani McCauley, U.S. customer experience leader for voluntary benefits & enrollment solutions at Aon. "Employers have been able to improve employee satisfaction with an expanded menu of relevant voluntary benefits in light of COVID-19."
With more employees working remotely, enrolling in ID protection was a must for many employees. Aon's data also suggests that the pandemic has been a wake-up call about the need to prepare for a major health care incident. Supplemental health insurance–including accident, hospital indemnity and critical illness plans–has seen the greatest increase in growth among voluntary benefits employers have added to their rosters.
Read more:
- Voluntary benefits thrive in times of uncertainty
- 4 voluntary benefit trends to expect in 2021 as a pandemic-weary workforce faces new realities
- Despite current volatility, Moody's is bullish on long-term future of voluntary benefits
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Emily Payne
Emily Payne is director, content analytics for ALM's Business & Finance Markets and former managing editor for BenefitsPRO. A Wisconsin native, she has spent the past decade writing and editing for various athletic and fitness publications. She holds an English degree and Business certificate from the University of Wisconsin.
