It can be challenging to understand all the benefits available in the workplace. And if you’re not an expert at group supplemental health insurance benefits like accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity, you’re not alone. For one, your employees aren’t either. Our Benefits Insights Report found that only 35% of employees understand accident insurance and the benefits it provides.
So, let’s take a look at how accident insurance can help your employees feel more secure and give some examples of when they can put it to use.
Accident insurance provides cash payments for injuries covered under a policy. The funds can be used to help cover expenditures such as deductibles, out-of-pocket medical costs or everyday living expenses. And in an economy where 48% of employees would feel panicked by a $6,000 emergency room bill having an additional lump sum to offset costs not covered by major medical, at a very cost-effective premium rate, can be a true game changer for employees.
“Standard” accident insurance often covers items such as fractures, ER treatment, ambulance, dislocations, initial and follow-up doctor visits, and other minor injuries. Additional benefits can be added to a program, including pet boarding, dependent parent care, mental health support, multiple types of rehab therapy and many more.
When an accident insurance claim is submitted, the amount paid depends on the number of benefits for which an individual qualifies, the care received, and the terms and conditions of the policy. Historically, outside of health and wellness claims, the majority of accident claims have come from items such as follow-up office visits, X-rays, emergency room treatment, diagnostic testing and fractures.
Now that we’ve covered the details, let’s make accident insurance relatable by looking at a real life example. As carriers have expanded their offerings to both anticipate and respond to market needs, many have added accident insurance riders covering items such as injuries sustained during organized sporting events.
And what is the fastest growing sport in America? You guessed it — pickleball, with 48.3 million Americans playing the sport at least once in the past year. And, for a variety of reasons, it is a sport rife with injury. Perhaps surprising to many (including me), this is not a game dominated by early retirees. The average age of a pickleball player is 34.8 years with 70 percent of these players being between 18 and 44 years of age. Among casual pickleball players, 57% are male and 43% are female.
Perhaps not surprisingly, most of the pickleball injuries being seen in emergency rooms are for those age 50 plus — accounting for 90.9 percent of injuries from a recent study of visits from 2013–2017. And these injuries trended towards strains and sprains at 28.7 percent and fractures at 27.7 percent.
These figures place the pickleball-playing demographic smack in the middle of working years and even when accounting for the slightly older age of those requiring emergency room treatment, pickleball may just become a key driver of accident claims moving forward — and a persuasive validation of the value of accident insurance for employees of all ages.
Today’s multiple-generation workforce exhibits a wide range of priorities, including mental wellness awareness, dependent caregiving and active lifestyles for themselves and their children, to name just a few. And there are a multitude of benefits within accident insurance to support them. A quick demographic analysis can help align needs and accident insurance coverages best suited to employee populations and provide an added layer of protection for individuals of all generations.
