Voluntary benefit plans offer insurance and service benefits to employees without being mandatory. Plans include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, savings plans, and discounted services. Employers may match contributions, and plans can help with financial goals.
Voluntary benefit plans are various types of insurance and service benefits offered to members of an organization or employees of a company. The difference between voluntary benefit plans and regular benefit packages is that members or employees are not required to participate in either service, but can do so at their discretion. Plans are typically paid for through payroll deductions and may be offered in addition to or instead of regular benefits. Some of the different types of voluntary benefits include medical, dental and vision insurance, accidental death or life insurance, savings plans and retirement accounts, and services such as legal assistance or therapy.
Some companies that offer a basic health insurance package to employees may not have the means to offer a complete health care package that includes services beyond basic medical care. Some of the most popular voluntary benefit plans include dental and vision coverage options. Medical coverage is also sometimes offered for specialist issues such as end-of-life care, cancer insurance or catastrophic injury coverage as voluntary options. This allows a member or employee to purchase as much coverage as they want, often at a discount.
Life insurance may be one of the most popular forms of voluntary benefits. Not all employees need or want life insurance, making it sometimes impractical to offer it as a mandatory benefit. Life insurance can help surviving family members pay for funeral expenses and continue to survive financially in the event of the policyholder’s death. Many benefit plans also allow coverage to extend to a spouse, domestic partner, or even other family members.
Some voluntary benefit plans can help you save money for a goal, like college or retirement. This can be very useful for people who find it difficult to manage their funds as the contribution is directly deducted from the payroll. Some employers or organizations agree to match a certain level of contributions per year as part of this agreement, although not all do. Voluntary savings plans like IRAs can help grow an egg quickly through interest rates that are often well above regular savings accounts.
Employers and organizations can choose to offer a variety of other voluntary benefits that can help their members and workers. Some offer discounted access to services like gyms, fitness centers or even cell phone service plans. Services such as discounted legal assistance or health services not covered by traditional medical plans, such as chiropractic services or psychotherapy, may also be available at times below the market rate.
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