Guardian Launches Life and Disability Insurance Explorer Online Tool

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America has launched Life and Disability Insurance Explorer, which the New York based mutual insurer and employee benefits provider describes as a new online educational tool to assist people in determining their insurance coverage needs through four simple questions.

A statement from Guardian Life says that 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, the statement says.

"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," comments 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."

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, according to Guardian Life. Guardian Life describes highlights of About Employee Benefits as follows:

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.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio