You know the commercials with the ducks, right? I never really took the time to understand what AFLAC was, but now that I know I’m considering getting their coverage.
Anyone here have any experience with them?
It is horrible for dental insurance. We had it for three years but switched as soon as I had employer sponsored health insurance starting a few months ago.
Insurance of this type has a fatal flaw. They need to make money while you want to get more out than you put in. It rarely works unless you have a series of catastrophic things that they cover go wrong. Dentists were always confused by their billing structure and told us to just get off it and pay. I would not do it again for that purpose.
The product they’re advertising in the commercials is disability insurance, which I get through my employer. If you’re thinking about getting it, first check how much you can get through your employer and then if you need more, you can shop around (such as through an independent agency). You might be able to get coverage for less money than from AFLAC.
I worked for a company that offered AFLAC as a supplemental insurance for copays, etc. You don’t get anything ‘back’, so I’m not sure what Uncommon Sense is referring to. You specify an annual amount that you want to be taken out of your check pre-tax and deposited with the company. Then you can draw that down by filing claims for copayments, over-the-counter drugs, etc. You’re still spending the money, but the advantage is that it’s pre-tax money.
Where caution enters the picture is in not over-estimating how much you want taken out of your check. At the end of the year, anything you haven’t claimed for goes to AFLAC, which is where they make their profit. Since you will likely NEVER hit it exactly (I think the closest I got was within about $20), they will always make money on the deal.
Oops, that should have read “Shagnasty”, but perhaps he’s not referring to supplemental insurance.
Aflac is terrible. Their ads make it sound like a mainstream insurance company, but a hospital stay will ruin you while they cover only your auto payment.
The savvy personnel people know this, because they have regular insurance agents to tell them, but smaller places I know are switching from real insurance to this supplemental stuff and their employees are doomed.
I had it many, many years ago. Not sure if it still works the same, but it was for accident insurance. I had it for about three weeks, had paid a total of $12 on it, and put my arm through a window. I needed a trip to the hospital, and about 4 hours worth of surgery.
Within 2 days of being injured, an AFLAC rep showed up at my door with a check for $800.
I lost my job because of the injury, and never paid into AFLAC again… but I’d say it was worth it for me!
Guys, that’s all they SAY that their insurance is for. It’s supposed to be extra, over and above whatever you may already have.
At least that’s what the person from AFLAC told me. “You already have decent insurance, but does it cover everything? If you’re out for a few days who pays the bills? Co-pays for meds?”
These extra things are what it’s set up for, not as a primary coverer.
They also offered Cancer insurance, Heart desease, and Accident insurance, for me and for the family, so if anyone in the family gets hurt we get a check from them.
If we choose the paycheck deduction method we get something like a 60% premium savings over just walking through their door and signing up.
I’m in construction, so I’m thinking that something like this may be a good thing…?
Aflac is a company, not one single product. The company offers a variety of products, many of which have been described already in this thread: dental coverage, cancer insurance, supplemental medical and accident coverage, etc. The coverage featured in their TV ads is primarily the supplemental product – as the name implies it’s not intended as primary medical coverage, but to provide benefits to help defray the expenses of an illness or injury that standard medical indemnity or health maintenance plans don’t cover – copays or non-covered medical or prescription expenses, lost work time, etc. Unlike standard medical coverage, which reimburses you for expenses incurred, or pays medical providers directly on your behalf, Aflac’s supplemental coverage provides for a direct payment to the insured for specified medical events (a certain amount for each day of hospitalization, a certain amount for specified medical procedures performed, etc).
Some companies offer all of these products to their employees, some offer only selected products. My company, for example, offers supplemental medical, accident, dental, and cancer coverage. I’m able to select which ones I want. Note that this is in addition to our standard PPO primary health insurance. I opted for the accident coverage, but not the others, as it seemed to have the greatest benefit-to-cost ratio for the risks I’m most susceptible to at my age and given my personal and family medical history. In my early forties, no chronic or ongoing medical conditions personally or in the family, no significant family history of heart disease or cancer, but with the amount of driving, travel, etc. we all do, an accident isn’t that unlikely.
Despite According to Pliny’s comment, I’d be very surprised to find out that companies are “switching from real insurance” and replacing traditional medical plans with supplemental coverage. That’s not what it’s intended for. Perhaps some HR people are not very good at explaining this to their employees, but that’s hardly Aflac’s fault – the materials I received from my employer were very clear about exactly what the benefits and costs are.
I have no experience with Aflac’s claims processing or customer service (as a customer), since I only joined my current company six months or so ago and haven’t had any claims since then.
No, but I have an Aflac duck. It’s adorable, and it says “Aflac. Aflac. AFLAAAAAAC!” when you squeeze it.
The reason I’m even mentioning this is because my mom gave it to me. My mom is the human resource rep for her company and she deals with Aflac, who is their supplemental insurance provider. I have Colonial, myself, but the policies are, according to my mom, nearly identical.
Depending on the coverage you have (I have accident insurance and cancer insurance), you get money back for all kinds of things. For instance, with the cancer coverage, I get $50 back for my annual gynocological exam because the doc does a pap smear, which is a cancer screening. I don’t even pay that for my exam, so it’s worth it.
Aflac accident insurance would be useful if you expect to get hurt, but obviously, that kind of thing can’t be predicted. I get money through Colonial (and my mom says Aflac does the same) if I have an accident (regardless of whether it’s my fault or not) on or off the job, in a vehicle or not, and more money if I have to take an ambulance. If I require treatment out of town (say, in Sacramento, which is a two to three hour drive from my house) and I need a friend or relative to be there to drive me around or take care of me, Colonial will pay for their lodging for the entire time I’m required to be there.
It’s worth it if you’re paranoid, like I am.
…And the little Aflac ducks are cute.
~Tasha
Um, what you’re describing doesn’t sound like any of Aflac’s supplemental coverages; it sounds like a Health Care Flexible Spending Account (HCFSA), which works pretty much as you describe – you contribute money to the account through pre-tax payroll deductions, which can be used for qualifying medical expenses, such as co-pays or deductibles or pretty much any medical expense not otherwise covered by traditional insurance. But whatever funds in the HCFSA are left at the end of the year are forfeited, so it’s important to try to predict accurately how much you expect to use.
I have one too, for the same reason your mom got hers.
I have the cancer coverage. I signed up through my employer, and after I left the company, I was able to keep the coverage at the same (low, group) rate. It’s $320 a year.
I haven’t used it yet, and I don’t have a a copy of the policy handy, but the main reason I signed up was testimonials from people I knew who had the coverage and were happy with how it paid. Plus there’s some kind of payback, if you reach a certain age and haven’t had any claims.
Sadly, I sold Aflac for about a year when I was having trouble finding work. Man did that suck! Anyway, as you said, it’s a supplement. It does not replace primary medical insurance. Purchased through a group setting, the rates are reasonable and the benefits are good. Aflac created gthe Cancer policy and it’s a very good policy. I’ve known multiple people who were paid well after filing a claim.
The only probably you may have in construction is with the short term disability insurance because you are in construction. Some fields cost much more than others and some they simply won’t cover due to risk.
The accident and cancer policies are good deals. The policy that covers heart attacks and strokes is extremly good for the cost compared to what they pay out.
I can only vouch for the cancer insurance. It was well worth it when Mom had her uterine cancer. When it comes to that, AFLAC rules!