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Low supplemental health enrollment leaves workers exposed to big bills
The research found 53.0% of workers who had a recent medical event paid at least $1,000 out of pocket, and only 28.0% said they were very prepared for a $1,000 expense.
New research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Lincoln Financial links low enrollment in supplemental health benefits to awareness gaps, not resistance to the products, according to an EBRI Issue Brief. The study found that more than half of benefits-eligible workers spent four hours or less reviewing enrollment materials last year, while the same workers reported absorbing medical bills they could not afford. EBRI said the brief is the third installment of a three-part series examining employer, broker, and employee views on voluntary benefits, with employee responses collected from 1,130 benefits-eligible workers in October 2025.
Among respondents, 73.0% reported experiencing at least one medical event costing more than $500 in the past five years. For those with a recent event, 53.0% paid at least $1,000 out of pocket, and only 28.0% said they were very prepared for a $1,000 expense, while 44.0% said they had nothing saved for unexpected medical costs.
The brief points to supplemental health products, including accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity insurance, as coverage intended to offset that exposure, noting that many employees do have such options through their employers but do not know they are available.