America's Benefit Specialist November 2022

PRODUCT NEWS

including prospecting data connectivity and content management solutions. This announcement will expand those integra tions to include real-time connectivity for insurance quoting and policy management for ongoing service and renewals, which will result in robust, end-to-end insurance agen cy platform leveraging Salesforce’s CRM. For more information, visit www.zywave. com.

• By electing to add Vision and Hearing to a Dental plan, policyholders will receive coverage for annual vision and hearing exams, plus an allowance for corrective lenses and hearing aids. For more information, visit www.aflac. com/dental. ZYWAVE AND SALESFORCE PARTNER TO UNITE SALES AND SERVICE FUNCTIONS Zywave announced at InsureTech Connect Vegas 2022 a dedicated partnership and increased collaboration with Salesforce, the global Customer Relationship Management provider. This partnership will further bring together the worlds of insurance agency sales and client service, creating more effi cient, strategic workflows powered by data and content to deliver a seamless client experience. “As insurance agencies grow and expand new digital solutions to engage with cus tomers, the historical divide between selling new business and servicing that business has only widened, creating even more chal lenges in the coordination of cross-func tional work and client experience,” said Jason Liu, CEO of Zywave. “We’re thrilled to team with Salesforce, pairing Zywave’s revenue-generating solutions with a flexible, world-class CRM, to help simplify and unite these workflows. The deepening of our partnership will unlock unlimited growth potential for our shared customers and the insurance industry as a whole.” The combined offering, Zywave for Salesforce, provides the benefits of a pow erful CRM platform with customized and data-driven workflows for the insurance industry. Mutual customers will benefit from increased collaboration across a series of cloud-based products. Building on vari ous solutions Zywave has brought to market over the past several years, the two com panies have been collaborating on further integration into the Salesforce Industries’ platform and Financial Services Cloud,

“Since even a brief hospital stay can be financially challenging, Hospital Champi on can help employees supplement their medical coverage, particularly high-deduct ible health plans,” said Janet Buzil, senior vice president of product innovation and delivery at Combined. “By providing cash benefits that can be used to help pay person al out-of-pocket costs, this new product can give families greater confidence about their financial future.” AMBETTER HEALTH EXPANDS BENEFIT OFFERINGS AND GEOGRAPHIC FOOTPRINT FOR 2023 Ambetter Health, Centene Corporation’s health insurance marketplace carrier, will expand into Alabama and extend its footprint by more than 60 counties across 12 existing states in 2023. The company also announced its updated brand name, Ambetter Health, reflecting its commitment to putting better health at the forefront of its mission. In 2022, Ambetter Health served more than 2 million members across 27 states. In 2023, Ambetter Health will expand into Alabama and 60 new counties. In total, the Marketplace plan will be available in more than 1,500 counties across 28 states. In addition to expanding its geographic footprint, Ambetter Health is improving healthcare accessibility through the expan sion of Ambetter Health Virtual Access to nine new states, which supports affordable and convenient access to licensed virtual primary care providers as well as access to specialists, mental health providers and other support services. For the open-enroll ment period, 13 states will offer Ambetter Health Virtual Access: Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. For more information, visit www.ambet terhealth.com.

COMBINED INSURANCE LAUNCHES HOSPITAL INDEMNITY PROGRAM

Combined Insurance Company of Ameri ca, a Chubb company, has announced the launch of Hospital Champion, a custom izable hospital indemnity product created specifically for small businesses. Hospital indemnity is one of the fast est-growing supplemental health insurance products in the country, as employers broaden their voluntary benefit packages to recruit and retain talent. These benefits can be used by employees to help offset spiking medical plan costs and out-of-pocket expenses, particularly due to the prevalence of high-deductible health plans. The average annual health insurance deductible is $1,945 for single coverage and $3,722 for a family, and the average cost of a day of hospital confinement is $2,607. Hospital Champion pays cash benefits directly to employees for unexpected hospi talization due to sickness or injury. Benefit payments can be used by policyholders as they choose, including toward deductibles or copays, or for other costs such as trans portation, groceries or bills. The program also provides coverage beyond traditional daily hospital benefits. Employers can customize the program with up to 24 benefit options, including doc tor’s office visits and X-rays due to covered accident or illness, in-patient and outpatient surgery, recovery in a rehabilitation facility, and screenings such as mammography, pap smear, colonoscopy, stress test, etc.