Is Aflac Worth It?

Aflac is an insurance company that is best known for its TV ads featuring a duck. The marketing focuses on Aflac’s supplemental insurance, but they do not mention that Aflac is one of the country’s largest insurance firms and a Fortune 500 company. They are the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States, and they claim to cover more than 50 million people around the world.

Aflac offers supplemental insurance and life insurance products. They offer products through the workplace, and they also have some offerings for individuals and self-employed people.

With such a far reach, you may wonder if Aflac’s products are worthwhile for individuals and those who need supplemental insurance and life insurance coverage through their workplace.

Aflac Life Insurance

Aflac offers life insurance policies through the workplace, and they also have some products available to individuals.

Most of Aflac’s life insurance policies are group policies, and they have guaranteed insurability, which means that the company guarantees acceptance to any member of the group. This approach also means that you do not have to answer medical questions when applying for insurance.

Aflac’s life insurance is comprehensive, and it will pay out to your beneficiaries in most cases. However, if an applicant lies on their application or in specific circumstances, such as suicide, the coverage will get voided, or beneficiaries may not get the full payout.

Aflac offers a variety of life insurance policies, including term life insurance, whole life insurance, universal life insurance, and juvenile life insurance.

Supplementary Health Insurance

Aflac is best known for its supplemental health insurance, which users have alongside traditional health insurance coverage. Aflac covers any gaps in your health insurance coverage. For example, if you are not able to work as the result of an injury, accident, or unexpected hospitalization, the company offers payouts that replace your lost income. The point of this coverage is to help deal with the financial emergencies that go along with health emergencies.

For most policies, the payouts go directly to the insured individual.

Aflac has many different types of supplementary coverage. Some options are only available through the workplace, and others are available to both groups and individuals.

Sold Through Workplaces Only

Some of Aflac’s products are group policies that you can only access through your workplace. Employers can offer coverage as part of their benefits package for employees.

• Hospital insurance policies help employees cover the expenses that are not covered by their primary health insurance plan. If you have this type of coverage and are hospitalized, you can get a payout. The payments go directly to you, although you can also designate a person, such as a family member, to receive the payout on your behalf.         
• Aflac’s life insurance coverage for adults allows employers to take out a group life policy for their employees. The primary advantage of a group policy is that employees can’t get denied coverage. In fact, when you sign up for a life insurance policy through your work, Aflac does not ask any health questions. These policies are portable, so an employee can keep their coverage if they change jobs.         
• Aflac’s short-term disability insurance policy offers income replacement benefits to employees to help them deal with the loss of income that arises from a covered injury or illness. Again, the signup process is easy for these policies because they are group coverage. Aflac guarantees that insured people can renew their coverage until they reach the age of 75.         
• Aflac’s vision insurance policy encourages employees and their families to take on a more proactive stance toward caring for their vision. Coverage includes an annual cash benefit for eye exams performed by a qualified ophthalmologist or optometrist. You can also get payouts to cover a range of other eye disorders and diseases, surgeries, or accidents that cause permanent visual damage.

Sold to Individuals and Through Employers

Some of Aflac’s policies are available through the workplace, but also sold to individuals who need additional coverage or are self-employed.

• Accident insurance covers the gaps in your primary health insurance policy and provides for income needs if you are the victim of an accident and need time to recover. You do not have to go through a billing process with this insurance. Instead, Aflac pays cash directly to you or a designated person, such as a caregiver or family member.
• Aflac’s cancer insurance coverage helps you pay for medical expenses, such as chemotherapy if you receive a cancer diagnosis. However, these policies also cover non-medical costs like travel and lodging if you need to go elsewhere for cancer treatment.
• Aflac’s critical illness insurance covers policyholders when they suffer from a life-changing critical illness, such as a heart attack. Like many of Aflac’s other policies, this one covers the gaps left by other forms of insurance, and it offers cash payouts to help you deal with income loss and other issues while you recover.
• Aflac’s dental insurance comes in three options: Basic, Standard, and Premier. The Basic policy covers visits to the dentist for bi-annual exams, teeth cleaning, and x-rays. The Standard policy covers crown installation while also providing all Basic policy benefits. Finally, the Premier policy offers a range of extra benefits, such as coverage for orthodontics.
• Aflac also offers life insurance for children. Juvenile life insurance is valid for children under the age of 18. While it terminates when the child turns 18, Aflac does offer the option of rolling this over into an adult policy.

Is Aflac Good Insurance?

Aflac provides specific insurance products that offer life coverage or provide extra coverage that fills the gaps left by other insurance policies. Aflac’s policies do not work as stand-alone coverage.

Aflac is an especially attractive option for group policies offered through the workplace because employees can get coverage without going through a lengthy application process and answering health questions.

You should weigh the pros and cons of Aflac when deciding if it is the right option for your family or your employees.

Pros

• Supplemental insurance pays out directly to the policyholder, so you do not have to deal with any billing processes or delays.
• Some policies allow you to take your coverage with you when you leave a job even if it is part of a group policy through your workplace.
• Aflac offers flexibility when it comes to payouts.
• The company provides a wide variety of specialized coverage, so you can get exactly the coverage you need without paying for extras.

Cons

• Aflac covers traditional insurance gaps, but it may not work well for some types of policies, such as Medicare.         
• Aflac mostly offers many of its plans through employers, so individuals do not have as many options as those who get insurance through their workplace.
• Group policies may not cover independent contractors and workers who do not meet the criteria as official employees of a company.

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