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Medical companies are now offering more robust voluntary portfolios according to a recent Eastbridge study.

AVON, CONNECTICUT, USA (November 27, 2007)

Medical carriers today know that if they do not offer voluntary, at least on some basis, they’re likely to lose prospects and existing clients to those that do. Even those medical carriers that do not offer some products may find themselves behind the competition if they don’t offer a full menu of products. According to a recent Eastbridge Frontline Report, Medical Companies and Voluntary Products, 30 of the 40 medical carriers surveyed offer some voluntary products and another five either have access to voluntary products through a subsidiary company or are in merger talks with companies that offer voluntary.

In the past, medical carriers typically offered a limited voluntary portfolio consisting of just dental and vision plans. Today, over 80 percent of the medical carriers surveyed offer voluntary dental coverage but many also offer life and disability insurance (78 and 68 percent respectively). Just over half of those surveyed offer voluntary vision. Voluntary medical products, such as a limited benefit medical plan and coverages like critical illness and hospital indemnity, are some of the least offered products.

Only a few of the medical carriers say they usually package voluntary products with their medical plans. Most leave this decision to the broker, and we are not yet seeing brokers packaging very often. (Brokers may introduce voluntary later on but not necessarily along side a medical plan proposal.) Some carriers want to encourage more packaging and cross selling and, thus, offer price discounts to accounts that allow ancillary products, including voluntary.

Eastbridge Frontline Reports provide timely data on hot or new topics. Because the facts are often still emerging or are in transition, Frontline Reports are brief summaries of the facts as they were when the data was collected. The reports are only available to Information Partners, Insight Customers, and participants. Companies interested in becoming an Insight or Information Partner Company can call Eastbridge at (860) 676-9633 or email info@eastbridge.com.

Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc. is a marketing advisory firm serving insurance and financial services organizations in the United States and Canada.