Aflac enhances Individual Short-Term Disability Insurance to include mental health coverage

Benefits help provide workers with income protection as financial and mental health pressures mount

COLUMBUS, Ga., Aug. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac, a leading provider of supplemental health insurance products in the U.S., today announced the launch of its newly enhanced Aflac Individual Short-Term Disability Insurance to help employers better support the changing needs of their valued workers amid economic uncertainty and enduring pandemic challenges. The company's income protection insurance product provides policyholders with a source of monthly income when a mental health condition or another covered injury or sickness leaves them unable to work.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, 21%, or nearly 53 million U.S. adults, experienced mental illness in 2020, and 46% of adults with mental illness received treatment.¹ They go on to report that serious mental illness causes $193.2 billion in lost earnings each year.

"Today, more Americans are grappling with challenges that, in the past, may have received less attention, but in the wake of the pandemic it is increasingly clear that mental health is a major concern for our customers," said Aflac U.S. Deputy President Virgil Miller. "That is why Aflac is enhancing its offerings in the mental health space to provide solutions for consumers who seek to protect not only their physical health, but their emotional well-being as well."

Aflac's Individual Short-Term Disability product is a workplace benefit that can help protect the overall physical, financial and mental health of an employer's workforce. With a variety of options, employees can tailor coverage to their specific needs and budgets, so they can focus on recovery and getting back to work rather than financial stress.

"Events and conditions leading to disability that prevent people from working and generating income are more common than many think," said Kim Rudeen, vice president, Aflac Product Development and Management. "When a disability leaves a person unable to earn a living, increased out-of-pocket expenses could rapidly strain their finances. In fact, 1-in-3 employees (36%) could not go for more than one month without a paycheck, which is a high degree of fragility."³

• Expanded coverage for disabilities caused by common mental health conditions, including but not limited to schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress, substance and alcohol use disorders. 
• Expanded coverage with no rate increases to policyholders.
• Optional riders to help further amplify income protection coverage.

For more information visit Aflac.com/business.

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) is a Fortune 500 company helping provide protection to more than 50 million people through its subsidiaries in Japan and the U.S., paying cash fast when policyholders get sick or injured. For more than six decades, the insurance policies of Aflac Incorporated's subsidiaries have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. In the U.S., Aflac is the number one provider of supplemental health insurance products.⁴ Aflac Life Insurance Japan is the leading provider of medical and cancer insurance in Japan, where it insures 1 in 4 households. In 2021, Aflac Incorporated was proud to be included as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere for the 16th consecutive year. Also in 2021, the company was included in the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index and became a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). In 2022, Aflac Incorporated was included on Fortune's list of World's Most Admired Companies for the 21st time and Bloomberg's Gender-Equality Index for the third consecutive year. To find out how to get help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover, get to know us at aflac.com or aflac.com/español. Investors may learn more about Aflac Incorporated and its commitment to ESG and social responsibility at investors.aflac.com under "Sustainability."

Media contact: Jon Sullivan, 706-763-4813 or [email protected]

Analyst and investor contact: David A. Young, 706-596-3264, 800-235-2667 or [email protected]

¹ National Alliance on Mental Health (2022). Mental Health Stats. Accessed July 20, 2022, from https://www.nami.org/mhstats. 
²Integrated Benefits Institute (2019). IBI Benchmarking Analytics Series: Which Diagnoses Drive STD Incidence, Costs and Lost Time? Accessed from  https://f.hubspotusercontent10.net/hubfs/8926463/Resource%20Assets/Benchmarking%20Analytics/IBI-Benchmarking-Analytics-STD-condition-drivers.pdf. 
³ Aflac (2021). 2021-2022 Aflac WorkForces Report. Accessed July 5, 2022, from https://www.aflac.com/docs/awr/pdf/2021-overview/2021-aflac-awr-health-wellness-power-benefits.pdf
⁴ LIMRA 2021 US Supplemental Health Insurance Total Market Report.

SOURCE Aflac Incorporated