Some workers want you to send them another benefits document

September 28, 2015 at 10:32 AM
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Analysts at Aflac Inc. (NYSE:AFL) may have discovered an under-used way to get workers' attention: sending them summaries of their medical claims and expenses.

The analysts have included data on worker interest in annual medical claims and expense summaries in a report on results from a recent survey of about 2,000 U.S. adult workers. 

The survey team asked the participants whether their employers offered six different benefits enrollment resources, and whether the participants found those resources to be helpful. The resources listed included: printed brochures; websites; opportunities to speak with in-house benefits managers; opportunities to speak with representatives from the insurers; online decision-making tools; and annual medical claims and expense summaries.

Only about half of the participants found opportunities to speak with in-house benefits managers helpful. Fifty-eight percent said speaking with benefits provider reps was helpful.

Two-thirds said brochures, websites, online decision-making tools and annual claim summaries were helpful.

But Aflac found workers were less likely to have access to annual claim summaries than they were to the other resources. About half had access to printed brochures, and half had access to benefits websites. Thirty-one percent could use online decision-making tools.

Only 26 percent of the workers get annual claim summaries.

The results suggest that about half of all workers would like to see annual claim summaries, but are not seeing these summaries.

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