AFLAC

hrinmi

We are looking at adding AFLAC services to our Optional Benefits during Open Enrollment time. In particular, Long Term Care.

Are any of you using AFALC services? Have you received a good employee response?

Thank you,
Marci

System

We started offering AFLAC products 3-4 years ago, and response has been good. We have 60-70 out of 170 employees payroll-deducting one or more of their products.

Anita

We have had Aflac 11+ years that I have been with this company. About 1/3 of the employees have 1 plan or more. Our agent is great and comes out whenever we need him. x:-)

Tony Kessler

Marci,
This issue came up on the Forum in November 2002. To see the discussion, do a search for "AFLAC." The top link -- "Supplemental Insurance" -- will take you to the comments. Hope this helps. tk

Tony Kessler, director of editorial
M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC
(615) 661-0249 ext. 8068

Fritzzzz

MARCI

We offer AFLAC supplements at open enrollment and our percentage of takers is around 20 percent. I have found that the female employees between the ages of 18 and 25 are my biggest percent. They use the supplements that provide income and assistance during their FMLA/Maturnity leave, this is a tremendous help and an investment most continue to maintain as it cover many other areas as well.

Fritzzzz

System

The AFLAC products are competitive. A good thing about AFLAC is that they will administer the Section 125 (P.O.P.) for free. Any other TPA will charge per person per month.

Whether or not AFLAC is a good idea depends on the agent who provides the service. We had two very bad agents who sold products to our employees and then became unreachable. We are now looking at similar products through Colonial. Our long-term disability is through UNUM - so far so good after two years and several claims.

"Sam"

Don D

I agree with Sam's caution. I've had more AFLAC agents calling and knocking on the door than my home phone gets telemarketers. Seems like one every couple of weeks year round. Of course there is no coordination of efforts since each is independent. If I were going to recommend AFLAC to the company, I would certainly go with the one agent I found to be most community-attached and who seemed to have a long record of service in the immediate area, and to be absolutely sexist I would choose the woman with the fiercest go-getter attitude, knowing that translates to service for our employees. They will all tell you, "This costs the employer nothing and there is absolutely nothing for the employer to do." Hogwash! Those who use these programs, especially the staff in accounting, and the HR 'front office' know of the extra admin work, all the recording and keying and deducting and employees coming to the door to question you. But, it's still a good thing to offer if you have the admin staff to coordinate it.

dynamite9551

we offer AFLAC; however, only a few of us take advantage of it. Im currently looking at the L/T care policy and considering. I personally have been very pleased with their products. Also offer to employees at former employer and employees liked there too!
Good Luck!

Mentel

We considered AFLAC Long term care policy last year. LOOK AT THE POLICY BENEFITS VERY CLOSELY! It only pays for one or two years of care. We are looking for one that covers for a longer period. My parents are now collecting on their long-term care policy and my dad has been getting benefits for 18 months already and my mom is on her fourth month of collecting. With a two year limit, you run out of benefits early.

MS HR

The duck may be cute, but these people are the most aggressive sales people I have ever met. And when I say aggressive, I mean a*g*g*r*e*s*s*i*v*e*!!!!

Parabeagle

Interesting insights and very timely. I am meeting with our insurance broker and regional AFLAC representative today to initiate the paperwork and plan the employee meetings for a September 1 rollout. I'll be anxious to see how many of our employees sign up. It is nice to hear the (primarily) positive feedback, though.

AnneLa

I have also met with several AFLAC sales reps and they are aggressive to the max - plus they never forget your number. The only good thing that came out of the meetings was that one of them gave me a stuffed duck that does the "AFLAC" call.............. It's a great pick me up when we're having a stressful day.

HR in Okla

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 08-14-03 AT 10:40AM (CST)[/font][p]Same experience with aggressive agents. A year ago, one of our key management was on vacation and missed a health department inspection (his department was the primary focus) and missed the sudden resignation of our CEO. Things were chaotic for a while to say the least. To lighten things up, I created the "Lucky Duck Award." I made up a certificate and presented it to him, along with the AFLAC duck I had received, at our all team meeting. Got a few laughs and it has become a traveling award, presented anytime someone lucks out in a big way.

Just a suggestion to make use of the silly duck.

djacobs475

Marci,

We've had AFLAC for 1 year now, just renewed through open enrollment in June.
We love it! The coverages they have and prices can't be beat. Our Agent is very responsive, and not aggressive at all; she's very nice and very customer oriented. Out of 43ees, 40 have gotten at least one of AFLAC policies, and probably close to half have signed up for several of their policies. So it's a very valuable addition to our current benefits package. The best part of it to me is that the employee makes the decision as to which policies to add, if any -and it goes through payroll deduction. Frankly, based on our positive experience, employee feedback, and great agent, for us I don't see a down side.