COLUMBUS, Ga., Jan. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac (NYSE: AFL), the No. 1 provider of voluntary and guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States, today announced its new voluntary dental insurance policy. Aflac Dental offers policyholders more choices with multiple levels of coverage to choose from and bigger benefits ranging from higher annual maximums to enhanced orthodontic coverage. Aflac Dental continues to make it easier for employers to administer benefits because there are no participation requirements, network restrictions, deductibles, or annual premium reviews. It's an insurance policy designed to meet the needs of employers in the face of growing employee demand.

"With more and more companies shifting away from employer-paid benefits to voluntary insurance, Aflac Dental is the right benefits solution at the right time for both employers and employees," said Tom Morey, vice president of Product Development at Aflac. "With Aflac Dental, employers are able to enhance their benefits package at no direct cost to the company while providing valuable dental benefits – a safety net – their employees can rely on when they need it most."

The new product enhancement features include:

• Annual maximum building benefit: This new benefit increases each covered person's policy year maximum by $100 after each 12 consecutive months the policy is in force, up to a maximum of $500 per covered person.
• Orthodontic rider benefit: The enhanced rider benefit will pay $500 for the initial orthodontic treatment and then $50 for continuing treatment each month up to 18 months.
• Dependent age extended: The dependent age has been increased to 26.
• Issue age extended: The issue age has been increased to 70.

A recent Aflac study found 33 percent of consumers are not offered dental plans at work while 86 percent said employer-offered dental benefits are important to them. Research by LIMRA shows dental insurance is the third most desired benefit after major medical insurance and retirement benefits.

In addition to Aflac Dental, Aflac Group* also offers voluntary group dental benefits for companies with as few as one hundred employees. For more information visit aflac.com/business/.

*Aflac Group insurance policies are underwritten by Continental American Insurance Company.

Aflac Survey Methodology

The Dental Care Research study was conducted by insightexpress in June 2010, via an online survey of 1,000 consumers to understand which plans are most commonly offered by employers, how the plan pays out benefits, and how important dental benefits are when evaluating employer benefits packages.

To participate, respondents had to be 25–54 years of age with an income of $30,000 or more. The final sample is representative of the U.S. population based on census data for age and geographic region.

About Aflac

When a policyholder gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For 55 years, Aflac insurance policies have helped provide a safety net and 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 insurance company in terms of individual insurance policies in force. Aflac insurance products provide protection to more than 50 million people worldwide. For four consecutive years, Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere magazine as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies and by Forbes magazine as one of America's Best-Managed Companies in the Insurance category. In 2011, Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the thirteenth consecutive year. Also, Fortune magazine included Aflac on its list of Most Admired Companies for the ninth time in 2010. 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.

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SOURCE Aflac