Reliance Standard Enhances Supplemental Health Benefit Offerings With Next Generation Hospital Indemnity Plan

Helps families protect against unplanned health care expenses

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company (Reliance Standard) announced today that it enhanced its supplemental health product portfolio with a new, expanded hospital indemnity plan, enhancements to its accident insurance and critical illness insurance offerings, and significant improvements in flexibility across all its voluntary solutions.

Reliance Standard’s enhanced supplemental health portfolio is designed to help covered employees and family members navigate the high-cost, high-stress landscape of unplanned illness, accident and injury. With Americans spending an average of about $5,000 a year on out-of-pocket health care costs¹, these products help protect against the out-of-pocket financial gaps left by high deductibles, coinsurance and unforeseen expenses.

“This new era of supplemental health benefits is focused on helping covered employees and families protect savings that can be lost after a single accident or hospitalization,” Melissa Smith, vice president of service operations, said. “Accordingly, it was important when designing these plans to make them high-value and highly customizable to the specific needs of each employer group.”

The next-generation hospital indemnity policy introduces several noteworthy plan features, including day-one newborn/nursery and short-term hospital stay benefit options, and an optional facility benefit for hospital and health system employer groups.

“The pandemic has accelerated a trend we’ve seen toward extended emergency department stays – sometimes longer than 10, 12, even 20 hours – that ultimately don’t result in admission to the hospital. Our short-term benefit option helps protect employees in these scenarios,” said Smith.

An innovative Facility Benefit, which can be added to either the hospital indemnity or group accident policy, helps health care employers drive employee care through their owned facilities.

“This works on two levels,” explains Smith. “By paying a higher benefit to covered individuals who receive care at an employer-owned facility, these providers, primarily hospitals, can ensure quality of care while moderating their out-of-network claim experience. It’s a very rare win-win for the right client.”

Reliance Standard also makes the claim process easy, integrating claim intake across all disability, absence and supplemental health lines of coverage. Claimants have the choice of 24/7/365 claim access via live telephonic or secure online and mobile platforms, and enjoy a single point of contact for all concurrent benefits and leave plans.

About Reliance Standard
Reliance Standard is a leader in absence and employee benefits solutions including financial protection, absence management and supplemental health, with a portfolio of insurance products that include disability, life, accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, dental, vision, medical stop loss and limited benefit medical. Reliance Standard markets these solutions nationwide through independent brokers and agents to employers of all sizes. Reliance Standard was founded in 1907 in Chicago, IL and is rated A++ (Superior) by A.M. Best.

¹ US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020)