Poor Benefits Choices Lead to Significant Annual Waste

New research out of Aflac has revealed that56 percent of employees waste up to an annual $750 on poor insurance benefits election. Nearly 25 percent of respondents said they either chose the wrong level of coverage or chose options they didn’t need while just 16 percent of employees said they were confident in their selections. The Aflac study, entitled the 2012 Open Enrollment Survey of the Aflac Workforces Report, polled 2,500 consumers in July 2012.

The survey found that benefits selection during open was largely conducted while on “auto pilot’ for most employees as it was found that many individuals are not even aware of their chosen options. The primary mistakes reported by respondents include:

• 61 percent were not aware or only sometimes aware of policy changes each year.

• 89 percent said they select the same benefits each year without attempts at benefits evaluation.

• 47 percent rarely or never exceed deductible costs.

• 16 percent contribute the correct amount to their FSAs.

“Workers cannot afford to be in the dark about benefits options,” said Audrey Boone Tillman, executive vice president of Corporate Services at Aflac. “Consumers today need every dollar they have, with many clipping coupons and looking for ways to save. It’s critical that employees understand their benefits options during open enrollment to ensure that they don’t make mistakes that cost them money.” For the entire Aflac Workforces Report visit AflacWorkForcesReport.com.