It is no surprise that unions and the life insurance industry share a common interest in protecting the financial well-being of American workers. Life insurers are committed to providing financial certainty for all people – no matter their age, their job, their gender or race. Labor leaders advocate for and deliver strong financial protection benefits that allow union members and their families to live with financial dignity.
Supplemental products, such as hospital indemnity, cancer, accident, disability income and dental insurance, are some of the many benefits delivered by life insurers that are important to union members. These benefits, typically delivered to members through their local union shops or in negotiations with their workplace, help pay for costs arising from a medical event that major medical insurance does not cover — like copayments and coinsurance, deductibles, transportation, childcare, safety modifications to a home, or to replenish their savings due to the myriad unexpected and uncovered expenses that arise when one is sick or injured.
Last fall, when federal regulators proposed that certain hospital indemnity benefits be eliminated, and targeted other supplemental benefits for new taxation, ACLI and the unions fought hard together against this misguided plan. Local union leaders from the Teamsters, AFL-CIO, several building trades, transportation workers, teachers and school district employees, state and federal government employees and others told their members of Congress and the Biden administration that they highly valued these voluntary benefits, and they did not want them taken away or taxed. The policy leaders listened. In a rare federal rulemaking turn of events, they removed all harmful provisions from the proposed regulation.
Voluntary and supplemental benefits continue to be a target of certain policymakers that don’t understand their value and popularity. We expect more legislative and regulatory proposals, particularly at the state level, that put them at risk. Working together, we can raise awareness and push back against unfavorable regulations that would restrict access to benefits and harm the families that benefit from them.
David Chavern is President and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) whose mission is to provide financial certainty to Americans regardless of where and how they work, their life stage, or the economic status of their household. ACLI’s 275 member companies represent 93 percent of industry assets and provide financial security products and services to 90 million families.
