Products October 19, 2011

MetLife Offers Medical Coverage for International Business Travelers

October 19, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – MetLife has announced the availability of International Business Travel Medical (IBTM) coverage.
Reported by

IBTM provides assistance and coverage for emergency and urgent medical care for employees traveling on short-term assignments outside their country of residence. It allows business travelers to seek emergency and urgent medical care from any licensed doctor or hospital when outside of their home country.   

According to the announcement, coverage includes physician and medical facility care as well as related prescription drugs. Using a dedicated telephone number, business travelers can, around-the-clock, receive pre-screened doctor and hospital referrals and learn which providers are part of a direct settlement network so that out-of-pocket spending is reduced or eliminated.   

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The 24/7 assistance also includes translation services, emergency medical evacuations, family bedside visitations, emergency cash transfers, and embassy or consulate referrals. There are no exclusions for pre-existing conditions.   

Additional optional features include:  

  • Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) coverage;  
  • Dependent medical coverage for spouses or children also traveling on the trip; and  
  • Coverage during leisure travel associated with the short-term business assignment.  

 

IBTM offers multiple plan design options so companies can customize a benefit program based on their budgets and the needs of their employees.  

To learn more about MetLife Expatriate Benefits, visit http://www.metlifeexpat.com.
Benefits October 19, 2011

American Workers Lose Confidence in Retirement

October 19, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Sun Life Financial’s latest Unretirement Index finds one in five working Americans say they will never retire.
Reported by

Only 23% of working Americans feel very confident that they will meet basic living expenses in retirement – plunging from double that number (42%) last year.  

Confidence in the future of Social Security has plunged over the last four years, to 9% in 2011 from over double that (22%) in 2008. Confidence about Medicare benefits has also plummeted, to 8% in 2011 from over double that (20%) in 2008.   

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On the positive side, at all wealth levels, respondents who expect to receive guaranteed lifetime income from annuities by age 67, or who own long-term care insurance products, feel significantly more confident about retirement.   

According to a press release, the Unretirement Index is scored on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 reflecting highest confidence about retirement. The Index score dropped from near the midrange (44) in September 2010 toward the bottom third of the scale (36) in September 2011, down 18.2%.   

The overall Index is a composite score based on five subject areas, which all revealed declines in confidence compared to last year. On a year-to-year basis, confidence dropped as follows in the following subject areas: employee benefits (-31.7%), the economy (-25%), government benefits (-21.6%), personal finances (-13.9%), and personal health (-13.2%).   

The results were based on a sample of 1,499 people working full-time, part-time, or in job transition, which was representative of the U.S. working population between the ages of 18 and 66.  

The full report is at http://www.unretirementindex.com.

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