VIDEO from Prudential and Synaptic Digital: Employees Demanding More Voluntary Benefits

NEWARK, N.J., Nov. 30, 2010  /PRNewswire/ -- Employees are demanding a more robust menu of benefits they are willing to pay for in order to increase the overall value of their benefits, according to a research report released by Prudential Financial, Inc.

See video from Prudential at: http://inr.synapticdigital.com/Prudential_37611

The research found employees are demanding more of these voluntary benefits as businesses hurt most by the economy are leading a nationwide shift toward placing greater financial responsibility for benefits on their employees.

According to The Rise in the Employee-Driven Benefits Model, the first in a series of research briefs stemming from Prudential's 5th annual study of employee benefits, nearly half (43 percent) of the plan sponsors surveyed said their companies are taking a closer look at cost-sharing alternatives. And with costs increasingly shifting to employees, in the past year, 20 percent of employees added a new voluntary coverage through their employer.

"This notion of employees making more financial decisions at work didn't start with the recession or the recently passed healthcare legislation," said Andy Mako, senior vice president, Product, Marketing and Strategic Initiatives, for Prudential's Group Insurance Business.  "Interest has been gradually increasing over the past decade."

Mako said employees are taking steps to protect their health and overall financial well-being and they're viewing voluntary benefits as an attractive alternative to having no coverage or to purchasing potentially more expensive coverage outside the workplace.

"Now we're seeing ideas about benefit cutbacks, financial literacy education and consumer-directed health plans being woven together to tell the larger industry story about why the employee-driven model is starting to make sense to more companies," Mako said.

For more information, contact Sheila Bridgeforth at (973) 802-6852 or [email protected], or Sakita Holley at (973) 802-8646 or [email protected].

Group insurance coverages issued by The Prudential Insurance Company of America, 751 Broad Street, Newark, NJ. Prudential, the Prudential logo and the Rock symbol are service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc. and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.

09NY10-0356

SOURCE Synaptic Digital; Prudential