EBRI finds workers undercount the supplemental health cover employers say they offer

Workers may have more of this cover available than they report. In earlier surveys in the same EBRI program, employers were more likely to report offering several of these benefits than employees were to report having access to them ^[2]. Company size makes it worse. Workers at organizations with fewer than 500 employees reported less access to benefits information through email, websites, smartphone apps and social media ^[12].

EBRI names understanding and perceived cost as the main barriers ^[18]. A skeptic would say cost is the honest one. Employees who skipped voluntary benefits cited it most often ^[13], and a worker already short of cash can read a premium correctly. EBRI suggests many of them may not have weighed the extra premium against the out-of-pocket costs the cover could offset after a medical event ^[14]. The hcamag report adds that premium cost is also partly within employers' control ^[8].

That second point changes how far the explanation argument goes. A class action alleges that broker commissions consumed 37 percent of Macy's supplemental benefit premiums, and the case centers on accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity cover ^[4]. If the allegation holds, 63 cents of each premium dollar was left for everything else ^[19]. Plaintiffs are building similar voluntary benefits suits from employer Form 5500 data ^[5].

The evidence that explanation lifts demand has two limits. The research program was funded by Lincoln Financial, a voluntary benefits provider, and this brief, published August 20, 2026, draws on a survey of 1,130 benefits-eligible workers ^[10]. EBRI itself cautions that interest does not guarantee enrollment ^[6]. The brief does not measure how much of the stated lift reaches an enrollment form.

Workers who already hold the cover value it. Among those enrolled, 57 percent called it very important, and many said that without it they would worry more, get less done, miss more work and lean harder on loans or retirement savings ^[16]. Fifty-seven percent of employees have put off medical care, 26 percent in the past year, and cost was the main reason for just under six in 10 of those who delayed ^[17].

I think the case for fixing explanation first holds, with one condition attached. For this enrollment season, the research points to the materials: plain descriptions of each product, a clear comparison of the premium against a typical out-of-pocket bill, and benefits information that reaches workers at smaller sites ^[7]. Next year's consequence depends on the price behind those materials. An employer that raises enrollment in a product carrying a high commission load enlarges the premium base a Form 5500 suit can examine ^[4][5].