With the passage of health care reform, the market for major medical insurance was thrown onto a whole new playing field. The reform, which is intended to ensure that all Americans are covered by major medical insurance, had little impact on the market for the supplemental insurance coverage that Aflac provides. In fact in Japan – a country with nationalized health care – Aflac Japan insures approximately one out of every four households.

“Health care reform is a huge opportunity for Aflac in the U.S. since national health insurance is not necessarily better than what we have now. There could be potentially more out-of-pocket payments and that’s what Aflac supplemental insurance is designed to cover,” said Melissa Etheridge, Albany-based Sales Agent for Aflac.

Based in Columbus, Georgia, Aflac Incorporated is an international holding company. Its subsidiaries provide supplemental insurance to help policyholders cope with daily living expenses and out-of-pocket costs associated with accidents or illnesses. Its many insurance policies include accident, short-term disability, hospital intensive care, cancer, critical illness, life, dental, vision and others.

While not unaffected by the recession, Etheridge said business at Aflac is “still going strong.” When people lost their jobs during the recession or companies went out of business, Aflac policies sometimes lapsed.

“We’ve found that those who kept their jobs see an even greater need for supplemental insurance. They know how important that income is,” Etheridge explained. “We’re selling peace of mind about illness or injury and you need that whether the economy is good or bad.”

Enhancing Employee Benefits

According to Etheridge, Aflac sells most of its policies through employers as an enhanced employee benefit. There is no cost to the employer and a minimum of only three employees is required to qualify for a corporate discount. The only requirement is that employee payments to Aflac be made by payroll deduction.

“We work directly with businesses so they can offer this benefit to their workers. It also benefits the business because it keeps them from having to act as a loan department if something happens to an employee,” Etheridge explained.

Policies are portable to employees so if they change jobs, they can maintain their Aflac coverage. Given the emergency financial needs Aflac insurance is designed to cover, the company works hard to reduce the time it takes to process claims.

“We pride ourselves on four-day claims processing. I’ve been with Aflac 11 years and I’ve seen them work hard to get processing times down. We know our policyholders need that money as quickly as possible,” Etheridge said.

Targeting Cancer

Aflac introduced the world’s first cancer expense insurance policies in 1958. Since then, the company has targeted cancer through a variety of policies, corporate giving and ongoing commitments.

“Most people know someone who has cancer. There are always a lot of leftover medical bills that aren’t covered by major medical insurance. We can cover those through a cancer policy as well as help compensate for loss of income,” Etheridge explained.

Over the past 15 years, Aflac, its employees and independent sales associates have contributed more than $65 million to the Aflac Cancer Center in Atlanta. The company also has a number of ongoing commitments to medical centers treating cancer patients such as the Morrell Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at the Albany Medical Center in New York. In addition, Aflac is a founding sponsor of the American Association of Cancer Research.

Currently the Aflac Cancer Center has a fundraising project on Facebook to raise $2 million to fight childhood cancer. Donate $10 and Aflac will match your contribution and send you a plush Aflac duck. To date, the project has raised more than $385,000.

More information about Aflac is available at www.aflac.com or contact Melissa Etheridge at [email protected] or (229) 889-8654.

About Barbara Kieker

Barbara Kieker is a freelance writer who writes on business-related topics for a number of web-based properties. She also provides communications services to Fortune 500 corporations, small businesses and nonprofit organizations.