Unum is expanding its reach by entering the medical stop-loss insurance market.
The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based insurer said today that it will begin selling stop-loss to employers with self-insured health plans late in the summer, with the first coverage sold taking effect Jan. 1, 2018.
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Unum will offer stop-loss insurance nationwide, the company said.
Stop-loss insurance is an arrangement that protects a coverage provider against large claims.
Unum is best known as a seller of group disability insurance plans, and as the parent of Colonial Life. Colonial Life sells voluntary group benefits products, and it sells individual products at the worksite.
Unum recently entered the dental and vision benefits markets by acquiring Starmount Life.
Some insurers participate in the stop-loss market mainly by investing capital in the market. Other insurers provide plan administration services along with stop-loss insurance. Unum did not say whether it will provide plan administration services.
Some employers self-insure to get more control over their health benefits. Many employers self-insure to avoid the costs related to the state and federal requirements imposed on fully insured health plans.
In the past, most employers that sponsored self-insured health plans had 100 or more employees. In recent years, smaller employers have tried to cut their benefits costs by self-insuring.
