Dive Brief:

• The overarching conclusion from a recent survey is that voluntary benefits (usually paid by employees) are now front and center for many brokers, regardless of the type, according to an article at BenefitsPro.com.
• The annual Benefits Selling/Eastbridge Voluntary survey, conducted during March and April of this year, had nearly 300 producers representing a combination of employee benefit brokers, traditional voluntary brokers, enrollment companies and agents responding.
• The most notable change of all was the increase in the percentage of brokers describing their marketing efforts as “selling it [voluntary] actively” from just 19 percent in 2014 to 32 percent in the most recent survey.

Dive Insight:

While the study found there are still different segments of brokers in the voluntary market space, there is some blurring, most notably the between the classic worksite broker and the mid-size or middle-market employee benefits broker segments.

Both of these broker types are selling employer-funded and employee-funded products these days. The classics sell more voluntary benefits while the benefits brokers still sell more of the employer-funded, accrding to the report.

For HR, voluntary benefits continue to be a potent lure for attracting new talent and retaining existing talent. Coverages including accident, critical illness, dental, life, disability and even pet insurance (a fast rising voluntary benefit) are popular, and employees can buy them at reduced group rates. So the fact that voluntary sales are getting more attention means employers are beefing up their benefits programs in the war for talent.