CRITICAL ILLNESS: MORE VALUABLE THAN EVER Because when “life takes an unexpected turn, your focus should be on recovery, not paying the bills” By Len Strazewski COVID-19 vaccines have finally arrived, but don’t expect the pandemic to be over soon. The coronavirus will still be creating critical illnesses for many months, and suddenly everyone understands that critical illness insurance is more valuable than ever. In the past year, as thousands
Benefits Lead
PROTECTING WHO YOU ARE Products address identity—one of the most precious possessions a person has By Len Strazewski It’s not terrifying until it happens to you. The Internal Revenue Service tells you that your return was filed months ago, and your refund was paid to someone pretending to be you. Or you receive a credit card bill from an account you never opened, right up to the limit of the
BENEFITS OUTLOOK 2021 Changes expected as employers, employees deal with pandemic-related and other concerns By Len Strazewski Teetering on the edge of elimination for the past four years, the Affordable Care Act is likely to be not only rescued but expanded in a Joe Biden administration; and with greater attention paid to health issues post COVID-19 pandemic, employee health benefits may be entering their most complicated era of evolution. President-elect
FINANCIAL WELLNESS MOMENTUM GROWS Helping employees build a firmer financial foundation By Thomas A. McCoy, CLU The default advice to defined contribution retirement plan participants is to keep contributing as much as possible, year in and year out. It’s good long-term advice, but of course many plan participants face short-term financial obstacles to carrying it out. The pandemic has brought this problem into clearer focus, as workers at all income
HOSPITAL INDEMNITY INSURANCE Employer and worker interest in this employee benefit continues to grow By Len Strazewski In New York, public health officials briefly turned the giant Javits Center into an emergency hospital. In Chicago, state health officials put medical beds and ventilators into McCormick Place because the COVID-19 pandemic filled the intensive care beds throughout the city. Thousands of patients around the country succumbed to the deadly virus, and
