Plan Sponsors Can Get Insurance Design Tips from MetLife

A MetLife news release said its  Best Practices for Life site gives employers suggestions on how best to set up their group life plans and includes input about plan design, administration, enrollment and employee communications.  

MetLife said plan sponsors and benefit managers can encourage employee participation in their group supplemental life insurance benefit by:

• offering a supplemental group life plan with features and services employees can use immediately, such as will preparation or travel assistance services
• utilizing an enrollment approach that takes into consideration both timing and logistics.   Employers should provide employees with the capability to enroll online as well as by paper.   Also, having a separate off-cycle re-enrollment period for life insurance benefits can boost participation rates by as much as 15% because employees can focus on this important benefit separately from their medical or dental coverage.
• communicating with employees through multiple channels.   These channels should include distributing personalized information at work as well as mailing information to employees’ homes, utilizing the company intranet or internet, and holding group and individual benefits informational meetings so that employees better understand their group life benefits and the options and features available to them.