Hospital Indemnity Coverage Can Help With Out-of-Pocket Medical Costs

UnitedHealthcare’s Hospital Indemnity Protection plans offer compatibility for people enrolled in consumer-directed health plans with health savings accounts.

UnitedHealthcare has introduced nationwide new Hospital Indemnity Protection plans that provide a cash benefit to help fund employees’ out-of-pocket medical expenses or meet other financial needs after a hospital stay.

More employers are offering ancillary benefit plans, including hospital indemnity coverage, as a way to add financial certainty for employees, especially with more than 80% of employers now offering consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs), UnitedHealthcare contends. Approximately one in five (21%) employers with more than 500 employees now offer hospital indemnity coverage, according to the Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans.

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Hospital indemnity coverage gives crucial financial support to employees following a hospital stay, including emergency and non-emergency situations. Following a hospital visit, plan participants receive a lump sum payment ranging from $700 to more than $5,000, which can be used for any reason, including covering everyday living expenses, meeting deductibles or paying medical bills.

UnitedHealthcare’s Hospital Indemnity Protection plans offer greater flexibility for employers and employees, including:

  • coverage for hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admission, hospital and ICU stays, emergency room visits, lodging, transportation and more;
  • variable funding arrangements providing cost certainty for employers and the ability for employees to purchase the additional coverage they need; and
  • compatibility for people enrolled in consumer-directed health plans with health savings accounts (HSAs).

The Hospital Indemnity Protection plans are available to businesses with 51 or more eligible employees in 45 states and Washington, D.C. Ancillary benefit plans are available as standalone products or in addition to medical coverage.

For more information, visit www.uhc.com.

Retirement Planners Want to Know How Much They Can Spend

The top worry for respondents to a Dimensional Fund Advisors survey is not having enough money to live comfortably in retirement.

Investors planning for their post-employment years, as well as those already in them, want to know what they will be able to spend annually, a survey from Dimensional Fund Advisors found.

Twenty-eight percent of those planning for retirement said that is the most valuable information an adviser can provide them. Additionally, of the nearly 19,000 investors responding to the global survey, 28% said their likelihood of achieving their retirement goals is the most important information their adviser can provide, and 22% cited how much of a nest egg they will have in total as the most important information.

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For those already retired, the most important information is how much can they spend each year (33%); average annual returns they can expect during their retirement years (24%); and the total amount of money they will have for retirement (23%).

“The survey shows that individuals are thinking about what their income in retirement will be, and we are encouraged by this finding,” says Stephen Clark, head of global institutional services and president, Dimensional International. “We believe this is one of the most important things that investors saving for retirement need to consider and plan for—what their consumption needs will be in the future and if they will be able to afford them.”

Key worries of survey respondents include:

  • Not having enough money to live comfortably in retirement (37%);
  • Experiencing a significant investment loss in a market downturn (31%);
  • Outliving their money (13%); and
  • Incurring unforeseen expenses (12%).

More survey data can be found here.

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