Supplemental Benefits Help American Families When They Need It Most

American families need help now more than ever when a medical event disrupts their life. Medical debt and the increasing costs associated with healthcare have risen dramatically in recent years and continue to have a significant financial impact on people, often when they least expect it. In 2023, health spending per capita increased by 7.0%, up from 4.2% the year before. At the same time, “cost sharing”, the practice of requiring people to pay a portion of each medical claim out-of-pocket, also continues to increase each year.

A 2024 Kaiser Family Foundation report found that 20 million Americans (nearly 1 in 12 adults) owe medical debt … more than half of them owe over $1,000. And yet, an annual survey by Bankrate found that 59% of Americans in 2025 don’t have enough savings to cover an unexpected $1,000 emergency expense.

Supplemental and voluntary benefit products such as critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity insurance provide financial protection against these medical curve balls. They help people pay for expenses that crop up when one is sick or injured but that are not covered by major medical insurance. These products help people manage their household budgets when they experience a medical event or service, and can be used for any purpose, usually to help refill household coffers that have been hit by unexpected expenses from their illness or injury.

In 2023, supplemental and voluntary benefits insurers paid over $6.5 billion to policyholders to help American families cover unexpected and uncovered medical costs. A 2024 survey of people that have received benefits from their supplemental policies showed that they were overwhelmingly satisfied with the protection they received and that having supplemental benefits products gave them peace of mind.

At a time when financial resilience and stability is more important than ever, supplemental benefits products are a cornerstone of financial protection for families when they need it the most.

Ian Trepanier

Ian Trepanier serves as Policy Director, Supplemental Benefits and Group Insurance for the American Council of Life Insurers. In this capacity, he supports industry initiatives to expand access to supplemental insurance products that provide important financial protection for workers and families. Previously, Ian worked in regulatory and government affairs for Global Atlantic Financial Group, and was a policy analyst at ACLI and the American Academy of Actuaries.