Voluntary Benefits: What is controlling employees choices? A consumer research study for employee benefits plan sponsors

Transcription

1 Voluntary Benefits: What is controlling employees choices? A consumer research study for employee benefits plan sponsors Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group June 2011

2 Indicators studied as part of this research: Indicator...Page #1 Rising health insurance costs #2 Employee values #3 Method of learning #4 Enrollment method...10 #5 Reason for electing benefits #6 Employer funding #7 Benefits assistance Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study

3 Voluntary Benefits Definition For the purposes of this study, voluntary benefits were defined as any benefits offered through the workplace for which the employees either share in the cost or pay the full cost. Survey objectives Sun Life Financial s Employee Benefits Group conducted its third annual research study focused on voluntary employee benefits. As in previous years, this study focused on four key objectives: To determine which factors have the greatest impact on whether an individual purchases voluntary benefits through his or her employer; To identify how people want to learn about their benefits and from whom they want to learn about them; To find out if preferred methods of learning and certain methods of enrollment lead to higher participation; and To probe a variety of other factors that might control how employees elect, and make changes to, their benefits. Survey overview While much of the research confirms results from our 2010 report Voluntary Benefits: Key Factors Influencing Employees Choices, our latest survey revealed some interesting new findings, including: 1) When learning about benefits, getting assistance increased purchase rates When asked how they preferred to learn about benefits, the same number of survey participants used some type of assistance method, such as: oneon-one consultations, benefit fairs, toll-free services and group meetings, versus a self-taught method, like going online or reviewing printed materials. However, those who used assistance methods to learn about their benefits were more likely to purchase or enroll in them. 2) When enrolling in benefits, getting assistance actually decreased purchase rates When asked how they preferred to enroll in their benefits, this year only 24% said they preferred to enroll using an assistance method, like a one-on-one meeting with a benefits advisor. In fact, assistance methods of enrollment, when used on their own, actually showed lower purchase rates for many benefits. In contrast, the two self-taught methods, online and paper enrollment, resulted in the highest purchase rates. This new finding, which will continue to be tracked, seems to suggest that employees preferred to get assistance when learning about benefits, but wanted to enroll in benefits on their own. In addition, this year s survey findings seemed to suggest multicultural differences among respondents. In many cases, the results revealed that different ethnic groups valued and purchased their benefits differently. While this overview highlights just a few of the findings from our latest survey, overall results continued to show that voluntary benefits are important to employees. The findings above suggest that along with offering these benefits, providing self-enrollment materials and helping employees learn about your offerings, there is an additional opportunity to consider employee preferences to make learning about and enrolling in these benefits as easy as possible. At Sun Life Financial, we remain committed to reevaluating trends in employee benefits and making the results readily available to you. We hope you find these latest insights helpful in evaluating your own benefits program. Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study 1

4 Survey methodology Who? This study analyzed the completed surveys of 3,000 employed adults who met the following two screening criteria: Are the primary decision maker or share the employee benefits decision-making responsibilities for their household Work full time (>30 hours/week) or part time (<30 hours/week) for an employer with 25 or more employees When? This survey was fielded in December 2010, right after the benefits enrollment period for many organizations so benefits and the enrollment process would be top of mind for survey respondents. All Participants Have Either Primary or Shared Responsibility for Family Benefits Decisions 67% Primary Participants Work for Firms with 25 or more Employees Part Time 1 33% Shared How? The Sun Life Financial survey Voluntary Benefits: What is controlling employees choices? was conducted online using a survey panel. A test version of the survey was tested and refined before release to ensure participants understanding of the questions as posed. To make sure accurate comparisons can be made to Sun Life Financial s previous survey, results were weighted by company size. Households with Dependent Children and without 9 Families & Singles with Children Full Time 4 6 Families & Singles without Children 2 Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study

5 Cluster analysis As part of our analysis, all data were organized by demographic clusters, as highlighted below. These clusters grouped participant responses based on a combination of factors that are often thought to drive benefits decisions including age, marital status, home ownership, income, education and whether or not there were dependent children. Wherever differences are significant across these clusters, we ll point that out in the following pages. For example, ethnicity seemed to impact a few findings: more than 5 of the Hispanic participants indicated that they have dependent children at home, and when compared to other ethnic groups, Hispanics and African Americans had the largest share of sustaining families. PROFILE OF CLUSTERS ANALYZED FOR THIS STUDY Dependent Children Education Affluent Families Yes Graduate/Post- College Graduate Comfortable Families Yes Some College/ Graduated College Sustaining Families Yes HS Graduate/ Graduated College Empty Nesters No Some College/ College Graduate Independents No Graduated College Income >$100K $50K $99.9K <$50K $25K $150K $25K $100K Home Ownership Own Own Mixed Own Mixed Marital Status Married Married Mixed Married Mixed Age Range % 19% 8% 25% 35% Affluent Families Comfortable Families Sustaining Families Empty Nesters Independents Families & Singles with Children 4 Families & Singles without Children 6 Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study 3

6 #1 RISING HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS How will rising health insurance costs affect voluntary benefits decisions? With all the uncertainty around healthcare reform and what the changes will mean for the future cost of benefits, employees were asked what they would be most likely to do if their out-of-pocket cost of health insurance were to increase over a variety of levels, including 5%, 15%, 25%, 35% and 5. Respondents were offered a choice of four options, as detailed in the chart below. Following are some key findings based on their responses: At a 5% rise in health insurance costs, the majority or 7 of respondents still feel they can absorb the cost difference of medical insurance by reducing spending in other areas. However, this percentage continues to decrease, falling from 84% in 2008 to 7 in Not surprisingly, more households now feel they will be forced to cancel or decrease other insurance benefits to cover the increased cost of their medical benefits. In fact, the percentage more than doubled from 6% in 2008 to 15% in Similar to last year, even with up to a 35% rise in health insurance costs, the majority still said they d reduce spending in other areas to address the increase. When faced with a 5 increase in health insurance costs, the value of the benefit drops. In fact, 38% of survey participants said they would actually cancel their medical insurance. Yet, for the third consecutive year, fewer than of all survey participants said they would neither cancel or decrease their other insurance benefits if the cost of their health insurance increased by 5. Respondents continue to value their non-medical insurance benefits, refusing to cancel or decrease them even if the cost of medical increases by 5. WHAT EMPLOYEES MAY DO IF HEALTH INSURANCE COSTS INCREASE Cancel/decrease other insurance Reduce spending in other areas Eliminate/decrease contributions to their retirement plan Cancel medical insurance % Who Would Take Specific Action % 15% 25% 35% 5 % Increase in Health Insurance Costs 4 Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study

7 Consistent with last year s report findings, employees also showed a willingness to eliminate or decrease contributions to their retirement plan such as IRAs and 401(k)s in response to rising health insurance costs. While only a small percentage of employees said they would cancel other insurance, those employees were then asked which types of insurance benefits they would be most likely to keep a score of 1 and which they would be most likely to cancel a score of 7. As the chart below shows, those who said they would consider canceling their insurance would be most likely to cancel their other benefits in this order: 1) long-term care insurance, 2) short-term disability insurance, and 3) long-term disability insurance. Of all possible benefit choices, dental, vision and life insurance were the least likely to be canceled. If health care costs rise, long-term care and disability insurance were cited as most likely to be canceled possibly due to their costs or lower awareness of the need. BENEFITS EMPLOYEES ARE MOST LIKELY TO KEEP/CANCEL Dental 2.88 Vision 3.68 Life 3.71 LTD 4.10 STD 4.23 LTC Likely to keep Likely to cancel Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study 5

8 #2 EMPLOYEE VALUES Which employee benefits do employees value most? If employees are still likely to value their benefits even when faced with rising costs in their medical insurance, the research team wanted to assess which benefits they value most. To address this issue, we posed a thought-provoking question to survey participants: Assume your household has all the medical insurance needed but no other benefits. It is up to you to determine what additional benefits to elect by distributing 100 points among the following. Simply select a number from 0 to 100 next to each benefit to indicate the value to your household. Total cannot exceed 100 points. Responses to this question yielded three key findings: 1) Employees seem to take a little of whatever benefits are offered. As in previous years of this survey, nearly half of all respondents placed some value on six or more benefits. Even more significantly, 74% chose four or more benefits when offered. These results were consistent with previous findings that indicated that the more benefits offered to employees, the more they ll take advantage of them. Dental Vision/Eye care (separate from medical) 1 to 3 products 27% 6 or more products Long-term disability Short-term disability Life 26% 47% Long-term care 401(k)/Retirement 4 to 5 products Cash (unused) HOW EMPLOYEES VALUE BENEFITS % of Employees Assigning a Point Value > % 86% 77% 77% 76% 77% 62% 64% 6 61% 56% 56% 46% 46% 4 38% 32% Dental Vision 401(k) Life LTD STD LTC Cash 6 Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study

9 2) The majority of employees value their benefits more than cash. While cash is still important to employees, benefits seemed to be more highly valued this year. Employees preference for getting cash back in their paychecks from unused benefits points waned a bit from last year. In fact, the cash category showed the biggest decrease in value in this latest survey, falling to 32% from a high of 38% in 2009, possibly indicating a more positive economic outlook. However, as the graph below shows, sustaining families were more apt to value cash more than the other groups. 3) Most employees despite wide demographic differences seemed to value their benefits the same. Dental and 401(k) were the top two benefits that were most valued by all groups. As in the 2010 report, LTD was the only benefit that continued to gain in value. On the other hand, longterm care benefits continued to be valued the least by all groups, except empty nesters. Compared to last year, cash was valued less, and Life/LTD were valued more. These findings seem to reflect employees likelihood to elect a majority of the benefits offered to them. Remember, nearly 5 of respondents spread their points across six or more products and another 27% chose between four and five benefits. This could reflect employees confidence that if their employer is offering this benefit, it must be important. This notion is supported by the fact that employees continued to place a high level of trust in their employers, as noted on page 14 of this report. It may also reflect their aversion to financial risks of any kind, and their desire to protect themselves against the unexpected. The findings also suggested differences in how different ethnic groups valued benefits. Across the board, Asian, African American and Hispanic groups had higher purchase rates than their Caucasian counterparts. (See page 13 for more.) HOW DIFFERENT CLUSTERS VALUE BENEFITS Sustaining Families Comfortable Families Affluent Families Empty Nesters Independents Mean Value Score Dental tl Vision i LTD STD Life LTC 401(k) Cash The mean value score is the average of all respondents points allocated to each category, based on a 100-point scale. Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study 7

10 #3 METHOD OF LEARNING How do employees prefer to learn about their benefits? As in past years of this survey, Sun Life Financial also explored how employees want to learn about their benefits and if those preferences impacted their buying decisions. First, employees were asked to indicate all the ways they could have learned about their benefits and which methods they preferred. They were also asked how much time they spent reviewing information on different benefits and what impact that had on their decision to purchase. Following are four key findings: 1) Available and preferred methods of learning. Methods of Learning Available Preferred Self-taught Printed materials 77% 84% Online/website 72% 71% Assisted Group meetings 41% 6 Toll-free number 45% 26% One-on-one consultations 27% 45% Benefits fairs 22% 47% Just because more employers offer more ways for employees to learn doesn t necessarily mean employees are taking advantage of all these opportunities. Overall, printed materials and online/website are still the two most preferred methods to learn about benefits. However, fewer employers are making printed materials available to employees. In this past year alone, the percentage of employers offering printed materials dropped five points from 82% to 77%. However, utilizing the online/website method continues to rise. In fact, employees who preferred this method jumped three percentage points over last year from 68% to 71%. Employees preference for group meetings also rose 2% over last year. On the other hand, employees preference for one-on-one consultations significantly declined from the previous year, sliding from 5 to 45%. Fastest-growing learning method is online/website. 2) Assisted learning methods yielded higher purchase rates. As in previous years of this survey, almost as many employees continued to use some type of assistance method (46%) versus self-taught methods (48%) for learning about their benefits. However, employees who utilized assistance methods to learn about their benefits were more apt to purchase benefits across the board than those who chose to learn on their own. PURCHASE RATES FOR BENEFITS 10 EE PAID BY METHOD OF LEARNING Self-taught Assistance used None Medical Dental Vision iii LTD STD Life LTC 8 Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study

11 3) Not much time is spent reviewing benefit information. Regardless of the method of learning preferred, most employees, in general, do not spend much time reviewing benefit information. In fact, medical was the only benefit for which at least 37% of respondents stated that they spent more than 30 minutes reviewing. The amount of time spent reviewing materials for LTD, STD and life insurance virtually remained the same as last year, with the greatest percentage of employees stating that they did not review them at all. 4) Learning impacts buying decisions. Again, Sun Life Financial also explored whether or not the amount of time employees spent reviewing their benefits information actually made a difference in whether or not they enrolled in them. Employees value getting assistance while learning about benefits, but not when purchasing. And once again, those employees who spent more time reviewing benefits materials were more likely to buy versus those who did not review the information. In fact, spending a minimum of 15 minutes reviewing information seemed to increase purchase rates on average by 16%. Spending just 15 minutes reviewing benefits information increased purchase rates, on average by 16%. This year s results also indicated that getting assistance while learning about benefits also seemed to increase purchase rates. But when it came to enrolling for benefits, getting assistance actually decreased purchasing. This suggests that employees prefer assistance when learning about benefits, but want to enroll in or purchase benefits on their own. Again, this is a new finding that will continue to be tracked. PURCHASE RATES BY TIME SPENT REVIEWING Did not review <15 minutes minutes minutes >1 hour Medical Dental Vision LTD STD Life LTC Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study 9

12 #4 ENROLLMENT METHOD Which enrollment method is most preferred and used by employees? Employers utilize several different methods to make it easy for employees to enroll in the benefits they want. For purposes of this survey, enrollment methods included: Online/website Paper form One-on-one meeting Toll-free number Other According to our survey results this year, online enrollment surpassed paper enrollment and continues to grow. In fact, utilization of online enrollment far outpaces all other methods as it rose from 43% to 48% in just one year, while paper form enrollment dropped from 48% to 43% during the same period. Our survey results also indicated that online enrollment is now preferred by 54% of respondents, a significant increase over 2008 and Employees preference for one-onone and paper form enrollment methods, by contrast, has steadily declined. METHOD USED FOR ENROLLING There were also a couple of interesting findings to note about the ways in which employees preferred to enroll. 1) I ll make my own decisions... When asked how they would like to handle the question of which benefits to enroll in, 52% said they preferred to just be given the descriptions and they ll make the decision of whether or not to enroll by themselves. Although this number is down slightly from last year, empty nesters were still significantly more likely to prefer this method than other segments. 2) And I ll enroll on my own too. This year fewer respondents said they preferred to enroll in benefits through a one-on-one meeting with a benefits advisor versus respondents of last year s study. In fact, one-on-one enrollment methods alone actually showed lower purchase rates for many of the benefits. The two methods that resulted in the least interaction with a third party, online and paper enrollment, resulted in the highest purchase rates Online enrollment surpassed paper forms as the preferred method of enrollment. 3 1 When looking at preferences across demographics, online/website is the most preferred method and is most prevalent with affluent families. Sustaining families and empty nesters are the two groups that seem most open to meeting one-on-one with a benefits advisor. Online/ website Paper One-on-one enrollment meeting form Toll-free number None of the above 10 Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study

13 #5 REASON FOR ELECTING BENEFITS What is the hottest factor in choosing a benefit? This year, our survey again probed for what factors influenced the decision to choose benefits. Consistent with last year, respondents reported that the likelihood of using a benefit in the near future as well as the amount of financial protection the benefit provided were both key factors in deciding whether or not they elected a certain benefit. More importantly, when specifically asked whether they would select insurance benefits that offered the greatest amount of coverage but at a higher cost, or keeping cost to a minimum and getting less coverage, respondents chose coverage over cost. This finding reinforces their apparent need for financial protection as well as their aversion to risk. However, their understanding of the likelihood of using certain benefits may be flawed. For example, survey respondents viewed their likelihood of using Life, STD and LTD as almost the same. The reality is they are much more likely to suffer a disability than to die. In fact, men are twice as likely to suffer a disability before they die and women are three times as likely to experience one.* Similarly, for financial protection provided, responders rated dental almost as high as STD, LTD and Life, even though the financial impact of suffering a disability or dying is far greater than it would be from undergoing a dental procedure. *Sources: FACTORS INFLUENCING PURCHASE DECISION % Greatest Coverage When it came to benefit selection, employees chose coverage over cost. 45% Minimal Cost UNDERSTANDING OF BENEFITS Hottest factors for electing benefits are likelihood of using and financial impact if needed. 7 Likelihood of Using Financial Impact Likelihood of Using/ Financial Impact if Needed Dental Vision i STD LTD Life LTC (7) Significant and (1) None Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study 11

14 #6 EMPLOYER FUNDING Does employer funding influence higher benefits election? Again this year we surveyed employees about their attitudes around funding their benefits to see if changes in this area, as well as the general economy, had impacted their thinking. To be able to accurately test this idea, our research team ensured that the study included three different funding scenarios: 10 employer paid, 10 employee paid, and some level of cost sharing. Following are some key findings related to employer funding. Increase in Benefits Offered at 10 Employer Paid Compared to the 2010 report, this year s results indicate that there s been an increase across the board in benefits that were offered at 10 employer paid. While results show the greatest increases occurred in LTD and LTC benefits, 10 employer-paid benefits overall are still at, or below, 2008 levels. Moreover, results showed that employers are more likely to share the cost of benefits with employees. Although some shifting in how benefits are funded has occurred in the last year, most of this shift appears to be from an employer-paid model to a shared-cost model not to 10 employee funded. On an even more encouraging note, the survey indicated that refusal rates have dropped across the board over last year. This may indicate stabilizing in the market and possibly a renewed sense of employee confidence. In fact, refusal rates for most benefits receded to 2008 levels. Specifically, refusal rates for medical, vision and life insurance all declined sharply. Refusal rates, however, for LTC and LTD remained the highest at 54% and 31%, respectively. But refusal rates for vision significantly decreased by 4% over last year. Holding Steady with Employee-Paid Benefits The percentage of households that were asked to pay 10 of benefits remained fairly consistent with 2010 s report results. On average employees will still elect benefits even if they have to pay 10 of the cost. PERCENTAGE OFFERED AT 10 EMPLOYER PAID 4 33% 32% 33% 2008 Funding 2009 Funding 2010 Funding % 27% 25% 25% 22% 18% 13% 14% 17% 13% 14% 17% 12% 16% 16% 13% 14% 1 Life STD LTD Vision Medical LTC Dental 12 Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study

15 For example: Of those employees who were offered dental benefits, 91% said they would elect them when costs were shared by the employer. And 67% said they elected them even if they had to pay for the entire cost. Of those employees offered vision benefits, 83% said they elected them when costs were shared by the employer. And 63% said they elected them even if they had to pay for the entire cost. Marked by an 8% increase over last year, this indicates that employees were more comfortable paying for this benefit in particular even if they had to fund it completely on their own. Similarly, 71% of those offered life insurance at their own expense also reported enrolling in this benefit a rate which grew by 5% from just one year ago and is further evidence of employees valuing coverages over cost. Employees still value and purchase benefits even if they pay 10 of the cost. Differences by Groups While purchase rates on average remained high even at 10 employee paid, there were some notable differences among the clusters for certain benefits. Most notable were the differences between sustaining families and affluent families for LTD and STD. The purchase rates for LTD were 5 versus 72% for sustaining families and affluent families, respectively. And for STD they were 58% and 76%, respectively. But when it came to life insurance, purchase rates remained high and consistent among families with dependent children with only a 2% difference separating these three clusters, ranging from 81% to 83%. In addition, the results revealed differences in the how certain groups valued these benefits. Specifically, Hispanic, African American and Asian respondents tended to place higher value on and have higher purchase rates than White Caucasians for 10 employee-paid benefits or shared. Interestingly, the biggest difference was with LTC. Purchase rates for the Hispanic respondents were 46% while the rate for Caucasians was only 37%. Given this finding, employers with a significant Hispanic employee population may want to consider offering targeted benefits materials for this group. PURCHASE RATE BY FUNDING METHOD shared cost Purchased 10 by employee Medical Dental Vision LTD STD Life LTC Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study 13

16 #7 BENEFITS ASSISTANCE Whom do employees trust most to explain and help select their benefits? Just as in the 2010 report, we explored whom employees would trust most to explain their coverage and even help select their benefits. The new data suggests that employees trust their employer most to explain coverages to them. In fact, 38% of respondents in the survey said they would turn to their employer for coverage explanations. In addition, their preference to seek those explanations from their benefit carrier or insurer has declined from previous years. Respondents trusted employers most to explain coverage, even more than last year. There was also a shift this year when it came to whom employees would trust to actually help them select benefits. Last year, spouse/family was ranked highest at 25%. But this year, that percentage fell by a couple of points, while seeking advice from their employer grew by 3%. Although fewer than 1 of respondents turned to their financial advisor/broker for help last year, in this year s survey, their trust for this resource seemed to grow a bit more when it came to both explaining and selecting benefits. While only 6% sought explanations from their broker last year, 8% said they would turn to them in this year s survey. Likewise, last year only 9% said they would seek their help when selecting benefits, but this year 11% said they trusted them most to help them select benefits. WHOM DO EMPLOYEES TRUST TO EXPLAIN COVERAGES? 45% 4 35% 3 25% 15% 1 5% No One/ Myself Spouse/ Family Employer Financial Advisor/ Broker Insurer/ Carrier Friend/ Colleague Other 14 Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study

17 WHOM DO THEY TRUST TO SELECT COVERAGES? 45% 4 35% 3 25% 15% 1 5% No One/ Myself Spouse/ Family Employer Financial Advisor/ Broker Insurer/ Carrier Friend/ Colleague Other WHOM DO THEY TRUST TO SELECT COVERAGES (BY CLUSTER)? 3 25% 15% 1 5% Sustaining Families Comfortable Families Affluent Families Empty Nesters Independents No One/ Myself Spouse/ Family Employer Financial Advisor/ Broker Insurer/ Carrier Friend/ Colleague Other When it came to our clusters, their preferences for whom they would trust to explain and help them select their benefits were in line with the above findings. There were no noticeable differences among the clusters with the exception of empty nesters. When it came to selecting benefits, empty nesters were much less likely to turn to their employer for advice compared to other groups, and much more likely to go it alone to select their benefits, with 21% choosing this option. Empty nesters also shared noticeable differences when it came to whom they trusted to explain their benefits, by placing more trust in the broker/financial advisor and the insurance carrier than the other clusters did. In fact they placed the most trust in the carrier at 35%, followed by the employer at 3 and broker/financial advisor at 11%, respectively. Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study 15

18 We hope you found the highlights from Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study interesting. We hope you ll leverage them to enhance your voluntary benefits offerings and your employees appreciation for and participation in your program. Recognize that employees value voluntary benefits. Don t assume employees will cancel supplemental benefits to compensate for rising health insurance costs. While that may be true for some employees, the survey showed that certain benefits, regardless of funding, are still important to employees. Continue to offer those benefits that they value most. Offer employees assistance with learning about benefits. But let them enroll on their own. The employees in this survey relied on self-taught methods as well as assistance methods almost equally to learn about benefits. But those who used assistance had a much higher purchase rate versus those who learned about benefits on their own. When it came to actually enrolling in/purchasing benefits, those who used assistance methods, however, had lower purchasing rates than those who enrolled on their own. Consider assistance to help employees learn about your benefits. But, for enrollment, offer employees a do it yourself option. Use online methods to educate and enroll. Utilizing online/websites to learn about and enroll in benefits has continued to grow. In fact, online/website usage now exceeds paper forms as the preferred method of enrollment. Partner with carriers who offer online communications and enrollment. Encourage employees to review benefit materials. Results showed that the more time employees spent reviewing materials, the more likely they were to enroll. In fact, just spending 15 minutes seemed to significantly increase the likelihood of purchasing benefits. And to make this 15 minutes more meaningful, look to partner with carriers who take a simplified, plain language approach to their benefits materials. Stress the need for disability protection. Employees lack of understanding for disability insurance continued. In fact, as we revealed last year, they continue to rate the financial protection provided by dental benefits almost as high as disability benefits even though the financial impact of a dental procedure is far less than the potential loss of income due to disability. Raise awareness of the serious risk disability poses. Perhaps refer employees to third-party tools such as those available from Council for Disability Awareness at Recognize needs of different employee groups. This year s study revealed multicultural differences in responses among ethnic groups. In fact, results showed that different ethnic groups had higher purchase rates for benefits than their Caucasian counterparts. Consider partnering with carriers who offer multicultural support. 16 Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group Research Study

19 Thanks for your interest in our 2011 research study. Translate this information into action by contacting your benefits broker today.

20 One Sun Life Executive Park Wellesley Hills, MA Get to know Sun Life Financial 1 We understand your need for financial independence and security throughout your life. Count on us and take advantage of our more than 145 years of consistent financial strength and a strong global presence. Partner with us and enjoy straightforward communications, simple business transactions, and timely service that addresses your needs. Grow with us and tap into our broad array of innovative solutions for you, your family, and your business. As a leading provider of annuities, employee benefits, life insurance, and mutual funds, we are one of the oldest and largest financial services organizations worldwide. 2 GVMPBCH-1322 SPLC /11 (exp. 6/13) 1. The Sun Life Financial group of companies operates under the Sun Life Financial name. Sun Life Financial Inc., the publicly traded holding company for the Sun Life Financial group of companies, is not an insurance company. In the United States and elsewhere, insurance products are offered by members of the Sun Life Financial group that are insurance companies. These insurance company subsidiaries offer products with guarantees, that rely on the issuing company s financial strength and claims-paying ability. 2. Mutual funds are offered through MFS Investment Management. Research sponsored by Sun Life Financial Employee Benefits Group and fielded by the research division of Gen Re. Group insurance policies are underwritten by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Wellesley Hills, MA) in all states, except New York, under Policy Form Series 93P-LH, 98P-ADD, 02-SL, 07-SL, 01C-LH-PT, GP-A and GC-A. In New York, group insurance policies are underwritten by Sun Life Insurance and Annuity Company of New York (New York, NY) under Policy Form Series 93P-LH-NY, 02P-NYSTD, 98P-ADD-NY, 02-NYSL, 07-NYSL, 01NYC-LH-PT, GP-A and GC-A. Product offerings may not be available in all states and may vary depending on state laws and regulations Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, Wellesley Hills, MA All rights reserved. Sun Life Financial and the globe symbol are registered trademarks of Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada. Visit us at