Supplemental Medical Insurance - What is Supplemental Health Insurance?

Group health insurance rates have been increasing year after year and employers have been forced to make some drastic changes in their employee benefit programs. Many employers have changed their health insurance to high deductible plans. Dental Insurance has been discontinued by some companies as well as vision care. Disability programs have been trimmed down as well as group life insurance. This has created gaps in coverage and employees have had to look for alternatives for coverage that has been omitted or decreased in their benefit package. The answer to this problem has come in the form of supplemental health insurance. Supplemental health insurance companies will enroll employees with these products and the premiums are paid through payroll deduction.

Supplemental health Insurance Products

1. Disability Insurance - Supplemental disability insurance is sold to employees to fill in gaps or replace lost benefits. Long term and short term disability insurance can be purchased with a variety of waiting periods and benefit periods.

2. Life Insurance - Supplemental life insurance includes a variety of permanent plans as well as term life insurance. There are non-medical life policies available for larger groups when a certain amount of employees participate in the plan.

3. Dental Insurance - This is one of the more popular supplemental health products because it usually the first discontinued by the employer.

4. Cancer Insurance - The cancer policy is a single need policy with relatively low premiums.

5. Accident Insurance - The accident policy covers accidental injury and death. There are accident disability riders on some accident policies.

6. Hospital Income - The hospital income policy pays a daily dollar rate to the insured while hospitalized. These policies can pay as low as $10 per day and as high as $200 for each day hospitalized.

The need for supplemental insurance is stronger than ever before. These policies can also be purchased on an individual basis with most companies.