Voluntary Benefits

Over the last decade, the mix of sales between group and individual platforms has shifted from predominantly individual plans to more and more group voluntary plans, according to an annual sales study from Eastbridge Consulting Group.

I recently heard a business owner describe his company’s voluntary benefits package as a “nice to have.” If that’s the case, I say get rid of the package and save both the aggravation and administrative cost.

A new study from the Institute for Womens Policy Research finds that giving employees access to paid sick days reduces visits to hospital emergency rooms, saving $1 billion every year.

In last months column, we looked at overall voluntary sales for 2010. In this edition, we analyze the results further by looking at product line sales as well as platform.

Americans are occasionally a little too optimistic.

Shares of MetLife Inc. surged on Friday after the nation's largest life insurer reported second-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts' expectations.

The debtpocalypse is nigh. But, hey, at least we’re going to have NFL football.

Shares of Aflac Inc. rose more than 6 percent Thursday after the disability and supplemental insurance provider beat Wall Street expectations and showed continued progress in de-risking its investment portfolio.