Survey Finds Workers Believe Workplace is Important Source for Insurance Products

The study found Americans are signing up for benefits such as life insurance (83%), disability (66%), and long-term care insurance (21%) more than in years past.

“While the life insurance enrollment rate is reassuring, many Americans are not electing sufficient coverage to maintain their families’ standard of living in the event of an untimely death, or taking the time to really think through their benefits elections,” said Lori High, President of Prudential Group Insurance.

Employees are spending the most time on health care benefits when enrolling, which is not surprising since most of their contributions go towards health care, Prudential noted.  Prudential believes that employees need to spend more time on securing an appropriate level of protection against disability or long-term care. Underscoring the likelihood of needing disability coverage, in 2010 the Council for Disability Awareness noted three in 10 Americans entering the work force today will become disabled before they retire.

The research shows the various communications about benefits choices include primarily e-mail at the workplace (65%), followed by group meetings during the work day (56%), and mail received at home (52%). These three methods are also the most preferred by employees, named by 55%, 49%, and 39% of plan participants, respectively.

“To reduce information overload, determining the most effective method of communicating with employees is essential,” said High. “Employers can offer their employees the best benefits packages, but they also need to engage employees, so that their benefits offerings can be appreciated, and employees and their families can fully realize the value of the benefits available to them.”