February 09, 2011 | A.M. Best Company, Inc.

Guardian Life Insurance Company of America is completing its exit from group medical insurance, with a portion of its business going to UnitedHealthcare.

Guardian Life has been a regional, niche player in group medical and “marketplace dynamics” have made it increasingly difficult to compete against the large, national health insurers, said Richard Jones, a spokesman for the New York-based Guardian Life, one of the largest mutual life insurers in the United States.

“We didn’t have the scale to compete,” Jones said.

Over the next two years Guardian’s group preferred provider organization business will transition to UnitedHealthcare. Guardian informed its brokers a few weeks ago, Jones said.

The group medical business represents about 1,700 employer plans, mostly small and medium-size employers, and about 42,000 covered employees, he said. Group medical represented 7% of companywide premium in 2010, Jones said.

A spokesperson for UnitedHealthcare (NYSE: UNH) declined to comment on total premium involved in the agreement with Guardian.

Last fall, Principal Financial Group (NYSE: PFG) said it decided to leave the medical insurance business, stopping new sales immediately and gradually moving its existing policyholders to UnitedHealthcare over a three-year period (BestWire, Sept. 30, 2010).

Guardian Life started pulling out of group medical in 1997 and exited about 20 states for this line of business in 2000, Jones said, noting the move wasn’t related to health reform, he said.

The company is focusing on its main business — nonmedical — which includes dental, vision, life and disability. Non-medical currently accounts for 95% of new business sales for the company, Jones said.

Guardian, which has about 100 employes in its group medical area, doesn’t anticipate immediate layoffs, he said.

“It is certainly hoped that as our non-medical area grows it will create opportunities for employees to post for other positions in the company,” Jones said.

Guardian Life Insurance Company of America currently has a Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A++ (Superior). UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co. currently has a Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).

(By Fran Matso Lysiak, senior associate editor, BestWeek: fran.lysiak@ambest.com)

NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A recent announcement by the Social Security Administration that beneficiaries will see no increase in their benefit checks for the second year in a row underscores the wisdom of securing individual disability income protection before you need it, said The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian).

Nearly 10 million Americans on Social Security actually receive disability, not retirement, benefits. Cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, are automatically set each year by an inflation measure that was enacted by Congress in the 1970s. The Labor Department’s release of inflation numbers earlier this fall indicated that consumer prices are still lower than they were two years ago, when the last COLA was awarded: hence, no increase to 2011 benefits.

“The official absence of inflation isn’t much comfort to those Americans receiving disability benefits whose savings and home values haven’t recovered from the recession,” noted Lawrence S. Hazzard, Vice President of Product Strategy at Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America, the Guardian company that issues individual disability income insurance.

“Having personal disability insurance in place offers a measure of control over maintaining your standard of living if injury or illness prevents you from working,” Hazzard added. “And, the best individual disability income policies allow you to customize your coverage to avoid the type of economic uncertainties currently faced by Social Security recipients.”

For example, Guardian’s policy features a Cost of Living Adjustment Rider with three options from which to choose:

• Four-year delayed — Guardian will increase your monthly benefit each year by 3% compounded. Increases begin on the fourth anniversary of the date you originally became disabled.
• Fixed 3% — After you’ve been disabled for 12 months, Guardian will increase your monthly benefit each year by 3%.
• Up to 6% — Guardian will increase your monthly benefit each year according to changes in the Consumer Price Index. Increases will be no lower than 3% compounded and no higher than 6% compounded.

“These are COLA options that you control,” Hazzard emphasized. “Whether you’re totally disabled and unable to work, or partially disabled and not earning what you did before your illness or injury struck, you want to protect the ‘buying power’ of your disability benefit against the uncertainties of the economic landscape, regardless of what Washington says.”

Guardian also has provisions to preserve your policy’s value while you’re still healthy, such as aFuture Increase Option (FIO) Rider that allows your policy to grow with your career. Obtaining additional coverage to protect a growing income normally requires providing evidence of good health each time you apply. But, with the FIO Rider, ProVider Plus policy owners are eligible to purchase additional coverage each year until age 55 with no medical insurability requirement.

Likewise, an Automatic Benefit Enhancement (ABE) Rider provides automatic 4% compound increases to your individual disability policy’s monthly benefit. Opt-in increases occur each year for up to five years despite any change in health, income or occupation. Unlike the COLA or FIO Riders, there is no need to apply for the ABE Rider, and you are free to opt out from the benefit increase (and corresponding premium increase) each year. The rider simply terminates after two consecutive increase declines.

Supplemental Options No Replacement for A Primary Solution

Even in the best of economic times, Hazzard said, breadwinners shouldn’t assume that Social Security replaces their need for individual disability income insurance.

“Just as Americans have come to realize that they need to save for retirement throughout their working years and that Social Security retirement benefits on their own will not be adequate for a comfortable retirement, they need to understand that Social Security and other potential sources of income after a disability — like a spouse’s salary, personal savings and worker’s compensation –are supplemental options at best, because they can eventually be depleted and eligibility isn’t guaranteed,” he stated.

“Especially given how difficult it can be to even qualify for Social Security disability benefits, an individual disability income insurance policy is the best way to prepare for a potential long-term illness or injury.”

About Guardian

A mutual insurer founded in 1860, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and its subsidiaries are committed to protecting individuals, business owners and their employees with life, long term care insurance, disability income, group medical and dental insurance products, and offer 401(k), annuities and other financial products. Guardian operates one of the largest dental networks in the United States, and protects more than six million employees and their families at 120,000 companies. The company has more than 5,400 employees in the United States and a network of over 3,000 financial representatives in more than 80 agencies nationwide. For more information about Guardian, please visit www.GuardianLife.com.

NEW YORK, N.Y., December 8, 2010­­­­ – The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), one of the largest mutual life insurers and a leading provider of employee benefits, recently introduced a multi-coverage voluntary package to provide employers with the opportunity to offer their employees a comprehensive benefits plan at one affordable price.

The Guardian Multi-Coverage Plan enables employers with three or more employees to choose from a variety of different lines of coverage and benefit levels at a single rate.  Packages can include a combination of long-term disability, short-term disability, life, accidental death and dismemberment and critical illness coverage.  The plan gives employers the flexibility to choose which benefit combination is right for their company, and gives employees benefits coverage with a simple enrollment process under a single rate.

“Voluntary multi-coverage plans are gaining in popularity because they give employers a comprehensive employee benefit package option to help attract and retain employees while being budget-friendly,” said Barry Petruzzi, 2nd Vice President, Life & Disability, Guardian. “These bundled plans make it easier to select, enroll, and administer, and are especially helpful to businesses that are offering benefits coverage to their employees for the first time. With one rate, these plans take the stress off the employer and limit the administrative burden that comes with offering different options at different coverage levels and price points.”

About Guardian

A mutual insurer founded in 1860, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and its subsidiaries are committed to protecting individuals, business owners and their employees with life, long-term care, disability income, group medical and dental insurance products, and offer 401(k), annuities and other financial products. Guardian operates one of the largest dental networks in the United States, and protects more than six million employees and their families at 120,000 companies. The company has more than 5,400 employees in the United States and a network of over 3,000 financial representatives in more than 80 agencies nationwide.

For more information about Guardian, please visit: www.GuardianLife.com.  For Guardian’s new online resource center for employee benefits, please visit:

NEW YORK, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ — The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), one of the largest mutual life insurers and a leading provider of employee benefits, announced today the launch of its Life and Disability Insurance Explorer, a new online educational tool to assist people in determining their insurance coverage needs through four simple questions.

The Life and Disability Insurance Explorer is part of a new suite of online tools and resources to simplify the employee benefits open enrollment process, the annual opportunity for employees to make changes to their workplace benefit plans. This fall will mark the first benefits enrollment season for American workers since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law in March, and Guardian’s suite of tools assists employers and their employees seeking simple solutions to optimize their coverage options.

“When it comes to Life and Disability insurance, people have an especially harder time knowing if they are making the right choices, and being overwhelmed often just results in taking no action. Our Life and Disability Insurance Explorer gives people a contemporary way of looking at their financial protection needs,” said Elena Wu, Group Marketing and Worksite Officer, Guardian. “This is a tool that brokers and employers can easily use with employees to help them navigate through all the information out there so they can choose the best benefits plans for their needs. It’s an innovative way to learn about the kinds of coverage out there that add value and simplify the process for employers.”

Guardian’s web-based Life & Disability Insurance Explorer asks four simple questions such as, “What do you eat for dinner?” and translates that into a personal recommendation for insurance protection. The Life and Disability Insurance Explorer can be accessed at About Employee Benefits, Guardian’s online employee benefits resource center.

Launched in July 2010, About Employee Benefits was designed to help employers and brokers maximize employee benefits offerings by making information about industry trends, insights into perceptions and behavior and real-world benefit strategies easily accessible. Highlights include:

  --  Proprietary Research Reports - Based on market research with benefit
      decision makers and consumers, a series of reports that reveal
      insights and trends to watch to help make benefits programs more
      effective.

  --  Legislative Updates - Information about regulations impacting the
      employee benefits industry, including the Patient Protection and
      Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

  --  Case Studies - Successful real-world strategies brokers & employers
      implemented for benefits enrollment, communications and helping
      employees return to work after a disability.

  --  Interactive Tools & Videos, including calculating a person's chance of
      becoming disabled, to help employees understand what personal
      protection needs.

  --  Tips for making the most of employee benefits, including a quiz and
      downloadable tips sheets, which employers and brokers can leverage
      with employees to help simplify decisions about workplace benefits.

  SUPPORTING QUOTES

“We have found through our research that most employees are poorly informed about the risks they face and confused about how their benefit choices can best protect themselves and their families. Tools like these that engage and educate employees and help them prepare and plan for the unexpected are very valuable at a time when employees are increasingly responsible for benefit decisions which can profoundly impact their financial security.”

- Barry Lundquist, President, The Council for Disability Awareness

“Making the enrollment process as simple as possible is a priority for employers. They’re looking to ensure their employees are getting the information they need to make informed benefits decisions. Employers have increasingly been turning to the Internet for immediate and easy access to the latest information, trends and resources for their employee benefit needs. These types of tools make it easier for them to get the personal attention they need to make informed benefit decisions.”

- Peter Whitely, Broker and President, The Sinclair-Whitely Company, Brentwood, TN

About Guardian

A mutual insurer founded in 1860, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and its subsidiaries are committed to protecting individuals, business owners and their employees with life, long-term care, disability income, group medical and dental insurance products, and offer 401(k), annuities and other financial products. Guardian operates one of the largest dental networks in the United States, and protects more than six million employees and their families at 120,000 companies. The company has more than 5,400 employees in the United States and a network of over 3,000 financial representatives in more than 80 agencies nationwide.

For more information about Guardian, please visit: www.GuardianLife.com. For Guardian’s new online resource center for employee benefits, please visit: aboutemployeebenefits.com.

NEW YORK, July 22 /PRNewswire/ — A recent report, Benefits & Behavior: Spotlight on Group Disability and Critical Illness – Awareness & Opportunity, from The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), one of the largest mutual life insurers and a leading provider of employee benefits, reveals that women were more likely than men to give a loan to family members in need of financial assistance because of medical distress.

  --  Despite longer life-spans and consequently the need to save more for
      retirement, 55% of women reported that they gave loans to friends or
      family members who were in medical distress compared to 34% of men.

Guardian conducted the survey to gain insight about how illnesses and the current economy have affected employee benefit decisions, particularly voluntary benefits (employee-paid), and employee understanding of key protection products. The full report can be accessed by visiting Guardian’s new dedicated employee benefits website, which provides research, industry trends, and educational resources at www.aboutemployeebenefits.com.

A Thin Line between Altruism and Anguish

“Government and retirement industry studies have made it clear that women tend to outlive men and therefore should probably be saving for a longer retirement,” Said Barry Petruzzi, 2nd VP, Group Benefits, Guardian. “If women are loaning an amount that they can afford to give, then it is an altruistic gesture to help friends and family. But, if they give more than they can afford, it can cause financial difficulties for themselves as well as possibly impact their retirement plans.”

“A solid financial protection package that includes life, disability, and critical illness insurance can help ensure that a person doesn’t have to borrow money in the first place – what’s more, some products can actually help a person compensate friends and families for the assistance they provide,” added Petruzzi. “For example, people often use the lump-sum they receive from critical illness policies to help compensate caregivers and family members who take an extended period of time off from work to help them during recovery.”

Guardian also offers a spousal benefit on its group disability income insurance that assists with expenses associated with the disability of a spouse. The partner still at work receives extra money to help with expenses that medical insurance doesn’t cover.

Expect the Unexpected

“There were many unanticipated findings in this survey,” said Elena Wu, Group Marketing Officer, Guardian. “Most surprising was the fact that personal experiences with a major illness did not seem to impact interest in purchasing voluntary disability, life, or critical illness insurance.”

  --  Most full-time employees (68%) have been or have a relative or friend
      that has been disabled, seriously ill or too sick to work.

Wu added, “We were expecting to see that employees who had first-hand knowledge of the trials and tribulations of an illness would be the first in line to buy protection. But you can’t assume that just because someone had a premature death or major illness in their close circle, they will run out to buy insurance. People are savvy and they know on some level that they need the protection, but they are often overwhelmed with too much information or confused by a lack of relevant information. Working with a financial advisor or benefits specialist can help employees make better decisions.”

Popularity Contest

Although personal experience doesn’t always translate into a greater inclination to purchase coverage, the report also revealed that more than 41% of full-time employees said they would consider paying in full to obtain certain benefits not currently offered by their employer, if the employer were to make those available.

When asked which benefit they would consider on a voluntary basis, employees chose the following (ranked in order of preference):

  --  Disability -- 58%
  --  Critical Illness -- 56%
  --  Dental -- 55%
  --  Life -- 52%
  --  Vision -- 48%

Petruzzi explained, "Intuitively, you would think that dental would rank at the top because it has a greater penetration and is a high-use and very popular benefit. In contrast, disability and critical illness are only used if an employee experiences a major illness, but they were statistically tied with dental insurance."

“The significant interest in critical illness and disability income insurance is likely because there are still many employers that do not offer these coverages. With employers’ budgets remaining tight, it’s good news that employees would welcome the opportunity to obtain critical illness and disability income insurance – even if it means paying most, if not all, of the cost out of their own wallet,” summarized Petruzzi.

Guardian recently enhanced its voluntary disability offering by lowering premiums, increasing coverage and simplifying its enrollment process. Additionally, under the company’s Disability Choice voluntary plan employees are able to increase coverage each year through an annual step-up option. The option allows employees to adjust their insurance amount as their needs and salary change.

Reading, Writing, and Voluntary Benefits

Voluntary benefits give employees more responsibility for their employee benefit decisions, but Guardian research reveals that many employees admit that they don’t understand differences between insurance products.

  --  More than a third (38%) of employees state that they don't know the
      difference between critical illness and disability insurance;
  --  More than a third (38%) say that they don't know the difference
      between critical illness and medical insurance;
  --  More than two-fifths (43%) say they don't know the difference between
      critical illness and long-term care insurance;
  --  More than half (57%) don't know the difference between critical
      illness insurance and accelerated death benefits on life insurance.

“We fielded these questions about employee understanding of the difference between coverage types in a 2008 survey, and the results are consistent with our current findings,” said Wu. “This shows that despite industry efforts to educate consumers there is still a significant knowledge gap. The information transformation won’t happen overnight. As an industry, we have to devote more resources to consumer education if we intend to move the needle in helping employees to better understand their employee benefits.”

About the Survey

Benefits & Behavior: Spotlight on Group Disability and Critical Illness – Awareness & Opportunity presents the findings of a telephone survey conducted among a national probability sample of 1,015 adults comprising 504 men and 511 women, 18 years of age and older, living in private households in the continental United States. The interviews were conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation of Princeton, N.J. from February 4-7, 2010.

Source: The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America

NEW YORK, July 7 /PRNewswire/ — As employers struggle to provide quality employee benefits in a difficult economic climate, insurers are working to enhance products to meet the changing needs of both employers and employees.  The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), one of the largest mutual life insurers and a leading provider of employee benefits, has recently made several enhancements to its critical illness plans aimed at increasing flexibility and giving access to more employees:

• Employers may now waive the pre-existing condition limitation on employer-paid plans with 10+ lives.  This makes Critical Illness an even better fit when sold alongside of a high deductible medical plan and allows for a smoother claims payment process with less delays.(1)

• Employees may take the coverage with them if they leave their employer up until age 70.  This gives employees more flexibility and makes the Guardian group product more competitive against individual critical illness products.

• Employers with 2 – 15 employees may now offer Critical Illness coverage to their employees.  This gives small company employees access to the same benefits as large company employees.

With Guardian critical illness coverage, an employee who has a heart attack, stroke, cancer diagnosis, or other critical illness receives up to $50,000(2) to use for uncovered medical expenses as well as non-medical costs.  When paired with a hospital admission rider, the plan pays a per day benefit up to $500 for as many as 10 days per year for an extended hospitalization due to a serious injury or illness not covered by critical illness.

Critical illness coverage is important because during a health crisis, families not only incur out of pocket medical costs, but can also incur enormous costs that have nothing to do with the actual medical care their loved one is receiving – a spouse’s lost wages due to caretaking, high commuting costs to and from doctor’s offices, and an increased need for child care. In fact, two-thirds of the costs of cancer are non-medical.(3)  Health plan providers typically only reimburse eligible medical expenses.

“Our offering matches up against any other carrier’s offering in the group critical illness market,” says Barry Petruzzi, second vice president, Guardian Life & Disability.  ”The combination of the critical illness lump sum with the hospital admission rider that covers an employee for any other illness or accident is an innovative and attractive feature.”

(1) Available on groups with 10+ eligible lives.

(2) Limited to $25,000 for groups with 2-9 lives.

(3) The American Cancer Society, 2007.

* The Critical Illness benefit is not available in all states.

About Guardian

A mutual insurer founded in 1860, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and its subsidiaries are committed to protecting individuals, business owners and their employees with life, long-term care, disability income, group medical and dental insurance products, and offer 401(k), annuities and other financial products.  Guardian operates one of the largest dental networks in the United States, and protects more than six million employees and their families at 120,000 companies.  The company has more than 5,400 employees in the United States and a network of over 3,000 financial representatives in more than 80 agencies nationwide.

For more information about Guardian, please visit: www.GuardianLife.com.

SOURCE The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America

Guardian Life Insurance of America introduced a new, and first of its kind, insurance program for medical and dental professionals. The program is set up to protect professional’s ability to repay student loans, in the event they become disabled.

The Student Loan Protection Program uses the company’s Business Reducing Term policy, which is specifically designed to fund such financial obligations. The program will insure 100% of the monthly loan payments (maximum o $2,000), in the event that the insured doctor or dentist becomes disabled, according to a press release from The Guardian Life Insurance Company on February 22.

Clients have requested such a program and Guardian is the first to offer any protection of its kind. “These professionals see how an unexpected illness or injury can threaten a person’s financial well-being every day, so they’re acutely aware of it,” said the Vice President of Product Strategy at Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America, Lawrence Hazzard.

The Student Loan Protection Program provides more that peace of mind, it provides financial protection in the event of a disability, something that could otherwise be disastrous to both the insured and their families. The average debt load is about $140,000 for medical school graduates and $186,000 for public dental school graduates ($205,000 for private schools), according to a 2008 survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Amounts not previously covered by individual disability policies. This is a win-win for for both the loan holders and the lending institutions.