Does your company provide critical illness insurance coverage? We’re looking into this as an added benefit, & finding opinions are very divided–either people really support the idea, or are very opposed.
We have offered CI coverage since 2006! We/employer fully pay the premiums each month, so it is a taxable benefit to our employees, however I have had I think 6 staff successfully submit claims over the years. Not a ton of claims, however, that coverage was very helpful to them during the difficult time they were going through with illness. The tough part for support I think would be if it was fully employee paid premiums as the premiums are dependant on age, gender and smoking status. I have staff whose premiums are as little as $15 per month and staff who are $150 per month dependant on those factors.
We offer Critical Illness as optional employee-paid coverage. There is not a large amount of employees enrolled, approx 4%, as many don’t like to think about these illnesses. I do like to remind employees that if you have the coverage and are diagnosed with a covered illness, then they receive a lump sum payment to help pay some bills. You can’t apply after diagnosis.
There is a lot of caveats on coverage however which may turn employees off. The rates are age, gender and health based as well.
I fully support this as it was something I needed 9 years age when I had a spinal cord stroke on a work trip. Companies can do the same percentage as they do for insurance premiums. It would have made world of difference.
We just added Critical Illness as a voluntary, employee paid benefit this past December. We thought it would be a nice addition and because it’s employee paid, something we could offer without affecting the budget. Our company who provides our life insurance added it. Our employees are able to purchase it for themselves, their spouses and their children.
Yes, I typically see companies providing the CI insurance coverage but only a few employers pay the premiums. I believe it is an incredibly valuable benefit because it offers a bit of a financial boost to the employee if they are diagnosed with a critical (and sometimes terminal) illness. The employee can choose to use that money how they want to… and perhaps that is paying down the home mortgage or debts, or taking the family on a vacation to spend valuable time together.
Yes, we offer this as an optional benefit but if employees apply within 60 days of being eligible they will guaranteed coverage with no medical evidence of insurability (limited coverage). I believe this is a great benefit… I’ve seen employees that have been diagnosed with a critical illness and the insurance benefit was so helpful during their difficult time.
