The American Council of Life Insurers says it will be handling “advocacy,” or lobbying, for accident insurance and other supplemental health benefits as well as for life insurance and annuities.
The new supplemental benefits advocacy effort will include products such as dental insurance, vision insurance, critical illness insurance and hospital indemnity insurance.
The ACLI will represent insurers on those issues at both the state and the federal level, the group says.
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The ACLI’s advocacy work “will focus on ensuring that employers and individuals maintain access to the supplemental benefits coverage they want and need,” the ACLI says.
Chuck Piacentini, the ACLI’s vice president for insurance regulation, said in a statement that representing supplemental benefits issuers fits well with the ACLI’s mission of working to secure Americans’ access to financial protection products.
“The costs of a significant injury or illness not covered by major medical plans can be devastating to a family’s finances,” Piacentini said. “Paying these expenses can put a family deep into debt or very quickly deplete a family’s savings for retirement, education or other future plans.”
The ACLI as a Lobbying Organization