CHICAGO, March 25, 2021 – Aon plc (NYSE: AON) today reports strong growth in U.S. employers offering voluntary benefits to workers during the 2021 open enrollment cycle. Aon, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, says the growth is fueled by employee demand for supplemental health insurance products during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The firm reports a 27% increase in the number of employer clients that offered new or additional voluntary benefits through Aon and a 15% increase in workers who are eligible for these perks from 2020 through 2021. When including family beneficiaries, Aon has helped employers serve more than 13 million participants during the last year.

“The biggest shift we saw in the last open enrollment cycle was the addition of voluntary benefits, because they had little to no budget impact for employers,” said Dani McCauley, U.S. customer experience leader for Voluntary Benefits & Enrollment Solutions at Aon. “Employers have been able to improve employee satisfaction with an expanded menu of relevant voluntary benefits in light of COVID-19.”

Aon's Voluntary Benefits & Enrollment Solutions business helps employers promote and protect financial wellness by extending their benefits packages and providing enrollment and communication strategies that help employees get the most out of their benefits. By creating a shopping experience, Aon provides employees with increased plan choice while simplifying human resources benefit administration.

The fastest-growing voluntary benefits amid the COVID-19 pandemic include supplemental health insurance policies such as “accident,” “hospital indemnity” and “critical illness,” in which employees pay a small monthly premium but receive a direct cash payout to help pay expenses if they are hospitalized or diagnosed with certain critical illnesses. These benefits have grown amid fears about the pandemic. Other popular voluntary benefits include life and disability insurance products, identity (ID) theft protection, legal benefits, auto/home protections, pet care and discount purchasing platforms.

In addition to the increase in employers offering voluntary benefits, more employees are selecting critical illness, accident, permanent life, individual short-term disability (STD) and identity theft insurance policies when they enroll in benefits for 2021.

"Our pipeline of potential customers has continued to increase the past 12 months and we expect growth to continue," said Greg Morano, U.S. practice leader for Voluntary Benefits & Enrollment Solutions for Aon. “We are creating real value for our clients and employees through more carrier competition, better benefit choices, and an easier enrollment process."

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Aon plc (NYSE: AON) is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance.

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Media Contact
Robert Elfinger
+1 312 381 0071
Robert.Elfinger@aon.com