According to a recent study reported by Property & Casualty 360 that was conducted by Lieberman Research Worldwide, 42% of companies that provide their employees access to voluntary accident and disability insurance saw a reduction in their Workers’ Compensation claims. Reduction of Workers’ Compensation claims is an important goal for business owners and their risk management team. In fact, reducing Workers’ Compensation claims is most likely among risk managers’ top priorities.
Since offering voluntary accident and disability insurance helps alleviate Workers’ Compensation claims for businesses, business owners should consult with their broker or insurance agent in order to get advice on the potential benefits of offering accident and disability insurance to employees. Businesses will see positive results from giving their broker or agent direct access to their employees in order to educate them on these policies and how they work. It is important that your broker or agent partners with you in order to understand the unique needs of your workforce in order to ensure that the right products are selected. This is the ideal way to mitigate risk through voluntary accident and disability insurance. Surprisingly, when employers were asked whether they currently make voluntary accident and disability insurance available to their workers, 36% say that they do not offer voluntary accident and 27% report that they do not offer voluntary disability policies. This represents a significant opportunity for business owners to consider the potential benefits of accident and disability insurance.
One of the key areas worth exploring in more detail is the impact of off-the-job injuries on business costs. Although not every business has issues with an uptick of Monday morning Workers’ Compensation claims, it is worth taking a deeper look at your company’s claims data. The National Safety Council reports that every 10 minutes, 729 people will suffer an injury that is significant enough to require medical care. In economic terms, this means that there is an impact of $15 million every 10 minutes, or $90 million in one hour.
Savvy employers are recognizing that there are benefits to addressing safety outside of work as part of an overall strategy to promote effective productivity, profits and management of healthcare costs. In other words, offering accident and disability policies is an opportunity for companies to potentially save money without having to spend it.
Making accident and disability insurance available to employees can decrease frequency of Workers’ Compensation claims and may also reduce absenteeism at no cost to the business bottom line. QCBN
By Linda Mast, Ph.D.
Linda J. Mast, MBA, Ph.D., is a licensed independent agent and benefits consultant with Aflac. She has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare administration, health policy, insurance benefits, and education. Linda dedicates her professional practice to providing individualized service to business owners in order to recommend strategic approaches to using voluntary benefits. She is a Fellow in the American College of Medical Practice Executives, a professor in Healthcare Administration, and is a frequently invited speaker on healthcare industry trends and business strategy. To reach Linda, call (928) 582-1074 or email Linda_Mast@us.aflac.com.
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