COLUMBIA, S.C. (Feb. 23, 2006) - The new group voluntary cancer insurance product from Colonial Supplemental Insurance adds a popular consumer benefit to an employer´s benefits package with the advantages of group underwriting, which means there are no health questions as long as participation requirements are met.*
"Because of medical advances in cancer treatment, more people are surviving cancer than ever before, but these treatments can be expensive," says Monica Francis, assistant vice president of product marketing for Colonial. "Plus, there are indirect costs, such as lost income when the patient, spouse or other family member can´t work, child care expenses and costs for travel to treatment centers."
Francis points out that cancer insurance can help protect people from high medical expenses associated with cancer treatment. "For example, with Colonial´s group cancer product, an insured could use benefits he receives to help pay for expenses related to cancer treatment or for indirect expenses."
Colonial´s group cancer coverage offers the following plan designs and riders:
- Base plan - Includes 18 major benefits that vary by the level of coverage the employer chooses to offer employees. Benefits include:
* Inpatient benefits - Hospital confinement and private full-time nursing.
* Treatment benefits (inpatient or outpatient) - Radiation/chemotherapy, antinausea medication, blood/plasma/platelets/immunoglobulins, supportive or protective care drugs and colony stimulating factors, bone marrow and peripheral stem cell transplants.
* Surgery benefits - surgery, anesthesia, second medical opinion, reconstructive surgery, outpatient surgical center.
* Transportation/lodging benefits - Transportation, companion transportation, lodging.
- Base plan additional benefits - Additional benefits the employer can choose to offer are: ambulance, attending physician benefits, experimental treatment, hair/external breast/voice box prosthesis, artificial limb prosthesis, skilled nursing care facility, and hospice and home health care services.
In addition, the group cancer product contains the popular cancer screening/wellness benefit that encourages early detection of cancer by paying a benefit for one of nearly 20 screening tests such as pap smear, mammography, breast ultrasound, colonoscopy, chest x-ray, skin lesion biopsy and hemoccult stool analysis, as well as blood tests for prostate cancer, ovarian cancer and myeloma.
Sold to employees at the worksite, Colonial´s group voluntary cancer insurance product pays benefits directly to the insured, unless specified otherwise. The product is currently available for sale in 35 states, including Washington, D.C.
For more information about Colonial´s products and services or opportunities with the company, contact Monica Francis at (803) 798-5555, ext. 8448, e-mail her at MLFrancis[at]ColonialLife.com or visit www.coloniallife.com.
About Colonial Supplemental Insurance
Colonial Supplemental Insurance is the marketing brand of Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company. Colonial is a market leader in providing voluntary insurance to employees and their families through the workplace, along with personal benefits communication, enrollment capabilities and a commitment to service. Colonial Supplemental Insurance products are underwritten by Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company and include a broad portfolio of insurance coverages, such as disability, accident, life, cancer, critical illness and hospital indemnity insurance policies. Similar products, if approved, are underwritten in New York by a Colonial affiliate, The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company.
A subsidiary of UnumProvident Corporation, Colonial is based in Columbia, S.C. and operates in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. "Colonial Supplemental Insurance," "for what happens next" and the logo, separately and in combination, are registered service marks of Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company. All rights reserved.