According to a recent survey conducted by the Nationwide Retirement Institute1, more than four in ten Americans are concerned the pandemic will impact their ability to fulfill potential caregiving responsibilities due to financial strain (44%) or due to their own illness caused by COVID-19 (42%).
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Even prior to these findings, Nationwide had partnered with Compassion Society Benefits, Inc. to introduce Caregiver Family Leave Insurance (CFL), a new groundbreaking, stand-alone paid leave insurance plan designed to support caregivers as either an employer-paid benefit or on a voluntary basis. This partnership is at the leading edge of the market, as this type of coverage is rare as a stand-alone group policy.
This unique coverage option provides up to 80% income replacement for an employee with a caregiving need requiring an extended or intermittent leave from work. Being able to focus on a caregiving crisis requiring time away from work is crucial, whether employees are working from home or at an essential business location.
CFL coverage addresses a persistent gap between the kinds of workplace benefits provided to caregivers by most employers and the support caregivers in the workplace need. To help resolve this predicament and relieve employees of having to make a difficult choice between work and family needs, CFL coverage provides a solution that is compatible with most employers’ Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requests.
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“Caregiving can be stressful enough as it is, but given today’s environment it can be even more so,” said Syed Rizvi, Vice President Specialty Insurance at Nationwide. “Caregiver Family Leave Insurance will help businesses protect the financial wellness and peace-of-mind of employees as they take time off for caregiving emergencies.”
The CFL insurance product has been in development for more than 4 years and comes to the market at a critical time for employers and our nation given heightened need for caregiving responsibilities. According to a 2019 survey conducted by Harvard Business School, more than 70% of employees reported having some type of current caregiving responsibility and are faced with the dilemma of choosing between what is best for their families and wage loss2.
“We believe the CFL product will have a tremendous, positive and immediate impact on U.S. families and the fabric of our society. It’s needed now more than ever,” said Compassion Society Benefits founder, Dr. Kyshun Webster. “It eases pressure on the Sandwich Generation, which is called upon to care for both children and parents, because it mitigates the financial loss caregivers experience when our moral and familial obligations compel us to attend to the ones we actually work to sustain – our loved ones.”
Webster also said that CFL has the potential to reduce productivity losses for U.S. businesses that stem from employee caregiving, estimated to cost the U.S. economy billions.3
This new insurance product is available to employers in 18 states, with more states expected to roll out in the coming months. Compassion Society Benefits is the Distribution Agent of the CFL product underwritten by Nationwide.
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