You can offer your employees the option of buying supplemental coverage. Although you don’t have to pay for these options, they can be a nice additional option that each employee can choose if it fits their needs. These types of plans are designed to pay any extra costs not covered by the regular health insurance plan. They are usually very specialized, such as:
- Catastrophic Health Insurance usually has low monthly premiums and high deductibles. Most provide coverage for expenses for surgery, hospital stays, intensive care, lab tests, and diagnostic X-rays. Some employees will use this coverage in place of traditional health insurance, preferring to pay routine health care costs themselves, but with the safety net to cover major medical problems such as an extended hospitalization.
- Hospitalization Insurance offers separate limits for hospital costs and physician costs associated with a hospitalization. Benefits include the cost of the hospital room, surgery, non-surgical physician services, and diagnostic X-ray and lab costs. They may also cover extended care facility costs. There isn’t usually a deductible that must be paid, but these plans are limited in the amounts they cover, and they should not be to replace a more comprehensive plan.
- Specified Disease Insurance policies cover treatment only for a specified disease, such as cancer, heart attack, or stroke. These policies must be purchased before a dread-disease diagnosis is made; if the person already has the specified disease, coverage will not be issued. These policies may have numerous limitations, such as only paying for hospitalization costs and not necessary out-patient procedures such as chemo. Limitations may also include a maximum amount of coverage they will provide, waiting periods, or a fixed time before coverage will expire.
- Long-term Care Insurance policies provide coverage for medical care, nursing care, or certain types of in-home care if you are ill or disabled and can no longer care for yourself.
- Hospital Indemnity Insurance sends payments directly to you, usually a specific amount each day you are hospitalized, to a maximum number of days. These policies are designed to help you pay other bills or out-of-pocket expenses you incur while you are unable to work.
- Disability Insurance policies usually pay 45 to 60 percent of an employee’s income, tax-free, if an injury or illness prevents them from working. Benefits from these policies can vary widely. There is usually an elimination period, which is the period of time after the disability occurs, before benefits begin. The period is usually 30 to 90 days, but it can be as much as a year.
- Dental and Vision Insurance is sometimes included in the overall health insurance plan, but they can also be purchased separately.