Disability update: Aflac, Millennium Brokerage

Aflac has added two features to the short-term disability insurance policy it sells to workers at small U.S. employers.

The Columbus, Georgia-based insurer, which may be best known to the public as the home of the Aflac Duck, says it will build a guaranteed-issue conversion feature into the short-term disability policies.

The company also will offer an optional cash-back rider.

The company has been selling short-term disability insurance to new applicants on a guaranteed-issue basis, meaning that eligible workers did not have to go through a medical exam or answer medical questions to buy coverage. Workers who bought Aflac short-term disability insurance did have to go through an underwriting process to upgrade their existing coverage or add more coverage.

Now, the company says, holders of existing Aflac short-term disability coverage will be able to upgrade or add coverage on a guaranteed-issue basis.

The change should make upgrading coverage easier for policyholders, Aflac says.

The other change, the addition of the Aflac Value Rider option, could make the short-term disability product more appealing to consumers who expect to stay healthy.

If a worker buys the rider along with a short-term disability insurance policy, the worker can get up to $1,000 in cash back from Aflac after going for five consecutive years without filing a claim on the policy. A worker who keeps the policy and the rider in force can continue to collect the cash payments after every five years for up to five additional five-year terms, the company says.