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Coverage for DNA tests such as 23andMe. Music and equine therapy. House calls at no charge.
Coronavirus has distracted us all this year, but these are some of the less-traditional, newer healthcare benefits that a small yet growing number employers are offering to meet the needs of their modern, evolving workforce.
Are they the sort of benefits your company should be considering? Maybe, maybe not. But everyday medical, dental and vision coverage are often just not enough to attract and retain top talent.
Indeed, companies have come to recognize that they need to offer employees a more personalized, family-friendly healthcare benefits package, especially given that younger workers, particularly Millennials, now make up the largest generation in the workforce.
Depending on budgets, companies can either cover the expense of these healthcare benefits on their own or offer them through a supplemental mix of policies, also known as voluntary benefits, that are partly or fully paid by the employee.
Your business can get lower rates for these benefits than your employees would individually, which, in turn, can makes voluntary benefits a bargain for employees who want the coverage. In many cases, employees are also gaining access to different types of coverage that they might not have even known existed.
There’s a wide range of voluntary insurance plans available. The most commonly seen include disability insurance, accident insurance, and even concierge services that help book your vacations.
One of the more popular such benefits: fertility solutions.
According to a recent survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, nearly one-third (31%) of employers with 500 or more employees offer some sort of fertility benefit — up from 24% in 2016. Smaller employers are less likely to provide fertility benefits, but among employers with 50 or fewer employees, 10% offer some sort of fertility benefits, up from 4% in 2016.
The foundation’s survey found that employers most commonly cover in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments (23%), fertility medications (18%), genetic testing to determine infertility issues (15%), non-IVF fertility treatments (13%), visits with counselors (9%) and egg harvesting or freezing services (7%).
Employers also increasingly are offering childcare assistance programs that include reimbursements or subsidies.
Whether thanks to vaccines or some mix of drugs, the COVID-19 pandemic will eventually be snuffed out. The old normal will resume. But one shift we began to see even before the virus will continue to grow: employers helping employees address work-life conflicts and challenges to help keep them productive and engaged at work.
Joseph McCleskey is an employee benefits advisor at CCIG. Reach him at joseph.mccleskey@thinkccig.com or at 720-330-7139.
CCIG is a Denver-area insurance, employee benefits and surety brokerage with clients nationwide. We do more than make sure you have the right policy. We help you manage your long-term cost of insurance with our risk and claims management expertise and a commitment to service excellence.
Also read: Healthy Benefits Tied to Healthy Corporate Reputation
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