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Also in this issue:

• Cover
• Managing worksite persistency
  By Gil Lowerre
• Voluntary participation rates—are they too low?
  (Part 2) By Bonnie Brazzell
• 2005 worksite sales results
• Product trends in worksite
• New Spotlight Reports
• Who gets to pick?
• Benefit cost increases continue to moderate
• 2006 company sales ranking recognition
• Why is this business so difficult?
• Research program update

Past Issues

• 2007
• 2006

Summer 2006 / No. 68

Product trends in worksite

What are the product trends in the voluntary market? This is a question we get asked regularly. And here’s what we’re seeing based on our recent research:

• Continued blurring of the lines between group and individual platform.
  This is an ongoing trend although we are close to the point where platform is almost immaterial. Still, some carriers and producers cling to the old definitions and distinctions.
  
• More interest in term life products.
  While we still see a lot of universal and whole life being sold, the trend seems to be towards term products. Certainly, much of this is due to the increasing number of group carriers and employee benefit brokers, but even individual carriers are looking at developing (or updating) term products for the worksite.
  
• Increased interest in accident products.
  Over the past few years, we have seen several new introductions of accident plans by worksite carriers. Many of these carriers have said that accident fits well with the move towards higher deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses.
  
• Increased interest in developing products to align with the move toward consumer-driven health plans.
  This is probably the “hottest” trend with numerous carriers looking at developing HSA-compliant products, like hospital indemnity, to help employees cover the gap between their high deductible health plan (HDHP) and their medical expenses. In fact, as noted in another article in this issue of Outside Input, hospital indemnity and limited benefit medical plans were the highest growth products for the industry in 2005.