It’s the time of year again where the AFLAC lady is in the office and ready to sign people up. I’ve seen the commercials before and it seems like the world’s easiest insurance to collect on. Go to the emergency room, they’ll pay you a day’s pay for your trouble. Sounds pretty decent. So why wouldn’t someone want to get it?
Ugh, the duck.
Honestly, I don’t know anything about the insurance.
We have their cancer policy. It’s a group plan that I signed up for at work, and even now that I’m not working there anymore, I’m still paying the low group rate.
I haven’t had to use it yet, but I know several people who have, and they said they got their money’s worth, and that it was easy to file claims and payment was quick. Plus, the cancer policy has a feature where if you reach a certain age without using it, you can get some of the money back, up to $3000, if I remember right.
How often do you go to the emergency room or the doctor, or miss a day’s work for medical reasons? If that costs you more than the AFLAC premium, give it a try.
How much does it cost to get you that day’s pay if you end up in the emergency room? I’ve never looked into it, so I don’t know. And exactly how easy is it to collect? Face it, they’re not in it because they lose money on the product 
We just went to Aflac, and the medical savings thingie was all I went for…oh, I may have added some sort of accident, but not much.
Take a look at how much the policies cost per year, and then guess the odds that you’ll need to cash in. On the whole, they weren’t too good for me. For example, the price for dental did me no favors; in my whole life I’ve had one thing extraordinary (sp?), which was a broken tooth from a cherry pit. The odds of me needing, say, $1,500 for dental work just didn’t make it worth it. My sister dropped hers for the same reason. If you’re a really bad driver, for example, and prone to accidents, then maybe more comprehensive accident coverage may be worth the risk. But, I’m just not in any high risk behaviors.
The medical savings thingie is good because you can use it for anything, so I use it for my ADD meds and I save money, since it’s taken out before taxes. That also gave me a deal on the bite guard I’m being fitted for.
Getting the money from them hasn’t been a problem.
If you already have health insurance, every claim will get bogged down in extra paperwork, while the insurers get into a “We don’t owe this, your other insurer does!” “No, we don’t, you do!” Meanwhile, your doctor/hospital keeps sending you final notices.
That was our experience, though we did not have The Duck.
AFLAC income replacement insurance is generally moderately to very expensive relative to their benefit/risk ratio for generally healthy people. When I priced it as an independent contract is was absurdly expensive relative to the probability of a disabling health condition. Maybe you’ll get hit by a truck and win the jackpot, but the odds don’t favor that.
Maybe large groups might get a better deal than independent contractors.