America's Benefit Specialist November 2022

PRODUCT NEWS

“Companies are recognizing that leave benefits and management of administration are an important component of a compre hensive benefits program to attract and retain talent. These companies rely on their benefits advisors to recommend best-in class solutions in this emerging space,” said Paul Park, chief revenue officer of Sparrow. Learn more at www.trysparrow.com. INTEGRITY LAUNCHES LEADCENTER PLATFORM Integrity Marketing Group LLC has announced the launch of its proprietary LeadCENTER platform, available exclusively to Integrity partners and their contracted agents, advisors and agencies. LeadCENTER is an on-demand, easy to-use online platform designed to play a crucial role in connecting Integrity affiliated agents and advisors with consumers. The platform makes the process of acquiring and managing leads simpler than ever before. With streamlined functionality, LeadCEN TER provides Integrity agents with a conve nient lead-mapping tool to access leads from anywhere in the country. It also offers access to compliant and exclusive leads, manage ment of pre-existing leads, new lead notifi cations, competitive pricing and more—all to help Integrity agents and advisors reach and serve more consumers. Visit www.integritymarketing.com to learn more. BREEZE LAUNCHES PAID PARENTAL LEAVE INSURANCE FOR EMPLOYERS Breeze, the online disability insurance com pany, has announced the launch of Leave by Breeze, a paid parental leave insurance solution for employers to support employees who need to take time away from work to care for what matters most—their families. The addition enhances Breeze’s turnkey online platform, which already includes short-term disability insurance, two types of long-term disability insurance, and critical illness insurance.

participants have engaged the service while family planning. Products are issued by Securian Life In surance Company under policy form series 19-32690. Product availability and features may vary by state.

SECURIAN FINANCIAL COLLABORATES WITH BENEFITBUMP TO ENHANCE

EDUCATION AMONG EXPECTANT PARENTS

To provide greater assistance to employees growing their families, Securian Financial is adding BenefitBump as a value-added ser vice. The BenefitBump service can be used with Securian Financial’s group hospital indemnity insurance issued by Securian Life Insurance Company. BenefitBump improves outcomes for em ployers and employees by helping growing families navigate their employers’ benefits and time-off programs to build plans for balancing work and life. The program was designed for all paths to parenthood, includ ing childbirth, adoption and families seeking fertility support. Participants are provided with education tools and live support from licensed emotional health clinicians. “Employees expecting a new child are often overwhelmed with information and unaware of all the benefits available to them through their employers,” said Darin Reeser, regional director of supplemental health benefit sales for Securian Financial. “Bene fitBump’s trained care navigators are experts in workplace benefit programs for expecting parents. They guide parents through the journey of growing their families—from pre-birth planning to post-birth childcare— while ensuring that they are maximizing their available benefits. For employers, this can be a powerful tool for retention, espe cially of working mothers.” According to ongoing BenefitBump participant survey responses, 66% of participants say the service reduces stress and anxiety and 83% say it increases benefit awareness and utilization. In addition, a 2021 study of program participants found that 98% successfully returned to work. With Securian Financial, insured em ployees do not have to experience a hospital stay to use BenefitBump. In fact, since the service’s inception, nearly one-fifth of

BENEFIT ADVISORS NETWORK, SPARROW FORM PARTNERSHIP Benefit Advisors Network—a national network of independent employee benefit firms—has partnered with Sparrow, a high tech, high-touch leave-management solution for employers. This strategic partnership will enable BAN to provide a superior leave-management solution that BAN members can offer to their employer clients. Under the terms of the new partnership, Sparrow’s leave management solution will be offered to all of BAN’s 120+ member firms in the U.S. and Canada. “We are thrilled to enter into a partner ship with Sparrow and cannot wait to offer their services to our members. As if em ployers weren’t tackling enough issues over the past few years, employers are also faced with the complex maze of employee leave policies,” says Bobbi Kloss, director, human capital management services for Benefit Advisors Network. “There are currently fed eral leave laws such as the FMLA, ADA and USERRA, as well as religious observations. In addition, there are 396 state-specific and 67 county-specific leave laws that change regularly. It has become nearly impossible to navigate this regulatory landscape with in house expertise alone, which is why we are partnering with Sparrow to provide these services to our member clients.” “In the last 10 years, navigating federal, state and local leave regulations has only gotten more complex,” says Deborah Hanus, co-founder and CEO of Sparrow. “As com panies across the U.S. accommodate remote work, managing leave without compliance errors has become a major pain point for people teams. Sparrow’s high-tech, high touch approach ensures that employee leave is stress-free.”

20 ABS | benefitspecialistmagazine.com