Aflac Expands Suite of New York Employer Insurance Offerings With Group Critical Illness Plan

ALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac, the No. 1 provider of voluntary and guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States, announced that it now offers its group Critical Illness (CI) insurance plan¹ to employers in the state of New York. The new voluntary group plan complements Aflac's recently introduced supplemental Hospital Indemnity and Accident plans in New York.

The new group CI insurance plan pays certificateholders a lump sum benefit upon diagnosis for covered illnesses including heart attack, cancer (internal or invasive), stroke, renal failure (end-stage), carcinoma-in-situ and skin cancer. Many health screening tests are covered as well including but are not limited to mammograms, colonoscopies, PAP smears and PSA (blood test for prostate cancer).

The Aflac group CI voluntary insurance plan provides New York employers with a guaranteed-issue benefits solution that helps employees offset health care expenses associated with illnesses not covered by major medical insurance.

Specific features of the group CI plan include:

• Re-Occurrence Benefit – If the insured is diagnosed with the same condition, Aflac will pay the full benefit again (lifetime maximum of 200 percent per insured.)*
• Annual Health Screening – Cash benefit for any covered screening tests per calendar year, such as a stress test or colonoscopy.
• Dependent Child Coverage – Each child is covered at 50 percent of the primary insured at no additional cost.

"Group critical illness insurance provides a lump sum benefit payment to help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses—and the costs associated with life changes that follow a covered critical illness—enabling people to focus on their recovery without the added financial stress associated with surviving a serious illness," said John Harmeling, senior vice president of Worksite Marketing at Aflac.

Heart attack, cancer, end-stage kidney failure and stroke are among Americans' top health concerns. Every 34 seconds someone suffers a heart attack² and, as many as 1.6 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year alone according to the American Cancer Society. Additionally, more than 871,000 people were treated for kidney failure in 2009³ and stroke remains the leading cause of death in the U.S.⁴

The financial impact if diagnosed with a critical illness can be detrimental to families. For instance, the annual coronary artery disease costs on average is $75,000 per person.⁵ Certificateholders of Aflac's group CI plan who had a heart attack diagnosis would receive a $30,000 benefit check and a guaranteed-issue.

"Statistics show that these major illnesses challenge Americans in every walk of life," said Harmeling. "With the addition of the Aflac group Critical Illness plan, employers in New York now have an expanding suite of coverage available to help their workers stay ahead of the significant out-of-pocket expenses that accompany these already devastating diseases."

While the emotional strain of critical illness health is concerning, the stress of struggling to pay for medical treatment only adds to workers' anxiety levels. The 2012 Aflac WorkForces Report revealed that 34 percent of workers say learning they had an unexpected serious illness or injury would leave them concerned about how it would affect their ability to pay for monthly expenses. Thirty-six percent of workers also admit they would have to borrow money from their 401(k), friends and/or family to pay out-of-pocket medical costs.

The Aflac group CI insurance plan is a part of Aflac's continued commitment to offer employers in New York benefits solutions that are hassle free, easy to administer and without adding benefits costs to the employer.

Product eligibility and options are:

• Guaranteed-issue – During the initial enrollment, coverage is guaranteed-issue. No medical underwriting is required so that eligible employees may qualify for the plan. Subsequent to the initial enrollment, evidence of insurability will be required for late enrollees.
• Portability options – Employees can elect to continue coverage should they decide to terminate employment.*

For more information, visit aflac.com/business or follow @aflac on Twitter.

ABOUT AFLAC
When a policyholder gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For more than 55 years, Aflac insurance policies have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. In the United States, Aflac is the number one provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance. In Japan, Aflac is the number one life insurance company in terms of individual policies in force. Aflac individual and group insurance products provide protection to more than 50 million people worldwide. For six consecutive years, Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere magazine as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. In 2012, FORTUNE magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the 14th consecutive year. Also, FORTUNE magazine included Aflac on its list of Most Admired Companies for the 11th time in 2012. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit aflac.com or espanol.aflac.com.

*Certain stipulations will apply.

¹ For groups sitused in New York, group coverage is underwritten by American Family Life Assurance Company of New York, and customer service is administered by Continental American Insurance Company, 2801 Devine Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29205.
² American Heart Association
³ United States Renal Data System's 2010 Annual Data Report and 2011 Annual Data Report
⁴ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
⁵ Milliman Research Report 

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SOURCE Aflac