'Tis the Season
to Supplement Health Coverage

Published January 20, 2022

The holidays are over, and open enrollment season has wrapped up. Employees have selected their major medical plans, and 2022 is off to a great start. But do they really have all the coverage they need to fill in the gaps in case they get sick or injured?

Major medical plans don’t cover everything

When an employee comes down with a major illness or suffers a serious accident, they typically spend time at home or in the hospital, and away from work. Once they’re back on their feet and back to work, their medical bills start arriving, and they can be quite a shock. Patients are typically on the hook for their annual deductible and other non-medical expenses they incurred, like extra help around the house, with children or with pets, travel expenses and more. On top of that, they may have lost income while away from work.  

These bills, plus the normal rotation of a mortgage, utility bills,and more can start to feel overwhelming, especially if there is little in the savings account.  The good news is supplemental insurance can help in situations just like these, and Combined makes it easy for employers to offer it as voluntary benefits to their employees. With open enrollment over, now is the perfect time to plan for what might happen in the year ahead and ensure your employees’ lifestyles are maintained in the event of an injury or illness. 

Supplemental insurance: Protection for the unexpected

Consider these statistics:

• 24% of U.S. civilian workers, or 33.6 million people do not have access to paid sick leave1

• The average hospital stay costs $2,607 per day2

• 39.5% of men and women are at risk of developing cancer in their lifetime3

• 13% of people diagnosed with cancer go into debt, and 2.3% file for bankruptcy4

• There are 137 million hospital ER visits every year5

• The typical length of a hospital stay is 4.5 days—and costs over $10,0006

Choices for employees

Not sure where to start? Here are some things to consider:  

• Look closely at your employees’ major medical plans. Whether or not their major medical is provided by you, most of your employees probably have some level of coverage. What’s covered? What out-of-pocket expenses are they responsible for? Do they already have unmet medical needs because of treatment costs?

• What are your employees’ needs? If they’re sick or hurt and can’t work, will they be able to pay usual expenses? Are they prepared to handle unexpected out-of-pocket medical payments? While you won’t know the answers to these personal financial questions, these are things your employees will consider when deciding whether or not to purchase the supplemental products you are offering.

• Find reliable coverage from a stable insurance company. Once they’ve made the decision to protect their family’s health and budget from unexpected costs, our products may provide the coverage they need. 

• Combined makes it easy. If something happens and an employee is unable to work—and medical bills start piling up—the rest of their bills don’t go away. Make a plan to make sure your employees are protected when they need it.

We have flexible, customizable solutions for your employees, and we can help with payroll deductions, communications and enrollment.

Take a look at our line of supplemental insurance products today. To request a virtual or  in-person consultation from one of our agents, visit us here.

References

1. DeSilver, D. (2020, July 27). As coronavirus spreads, which U.S. workers have paid sick leave – and which don't? Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org /fact-tank/2020/03/12/as-coronavirus-spreads-which-u-s-workers-have-paid-sick-leave-and-which-dont/

2. Hospital and surgery costs – paying for medical treatment. (2021, October 12). Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://www.debt.org/medical /hospital-surgery-costs/#:~:text=Hospital%20 costs%20averaged%20%242 %2C607%20per,(%243%2C271)%20for%20most% 20expensive.

3. Cancer statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics #:~:text=Approximately% 2039.5%2 5%20of%20men %20and,will%20 die%20of%20the%20disease.

4. Banegas, M., Guy, G., De Moor, J., Ekwueme, D., Virgo, K., Kent, E., . . . Yabroff, K. (2016, January). For working-age cancer survivors, medical debt and bankruptcy create financial hardships. Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC6057727 /#:~:text = A%20recent%20population %2Dbased% 20study,medical%20bills%20 related %20 to%20their

5. FastStats - emergency department visits. (2021, October 14). Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/ emergency-department.htm

6. Decreasing patient length of stay (LOS) to Lower Hais. (n.d.). Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://centrak.com/blog-decreasing-patient-length-of-stay/#:~:text=The%20average%20l ength%20of%20stay,cost%20of%20% 2410%2C400%20per%20day.