Sun Life makes in-person benefits enrollment a virtual reality

WELLESLEY, Mass., Aug. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As benefits enrollment season approaches and the pandemic continues, insurance providers and employers need to evolve to ensure that all enrollment needs can be met while maintaining everyone's health and safety. Sun Life's virtual enrollment capability provides employers and employees with the tools they need to understand and choose their benefits without in-person meetings. Through remote technologies, Sun Life benefits counselors engage directly with employees at the 1:1 or small group level, offering individualized guidance and support, open Q & A sessions, and even facilitating the complete enrollment process. So far demand for Sun Life's fully digital enrollment services has increased significantly, with more than half (54 percent) of enrollment clients engaging in the virtual enrollment process this year.

"Enrollment season is already a challenging time for employees, as there are many benefit options to consider and a lot of decisions to make," said David Healy, senior vice president of Group Benefits at Sun Life U.S. "We recently expanded our technology solutions to provide more customized options for digital benefits enrollment, and we are constantly innovating to continue to improve this support in the future."

Sun Life also provides a customized landing page for the employer, giving employees a familiar, company-branded portal to navigate. The landing page offers live or recorded informational sessions with a benefits counselor, informational videos, the employer's enrollment materials and a link to their enrollment page. Interest in the customized landing pages has increased dramatically during the pandemic, as employers seek engaging digital options to replace traditional on-site meetings. Approximately 98 percent of employees who register for their employer's landing page utilize it for enrollment.

"We expect even more interest in virtual enrollment as we get closer to enrollment season in the fall," added Healy. "The way people engage with their benefits is changing, and now more than ever it's important for us to serve employers and employees where they are."

For employers already using a dedicated benefits administration platform, Sun Life still provides benefits communication and enrollment support, and employees can reach a benefits counselor 24/7 via phone. Telephonic enrollment for Sun Life clients has increased 16 percent since the pandemic began. Enrollment support is also available through Sun Life's own digital benefits administration platform, Sun Life + Maxwell Health.

For all of Sun Life's virtual enrollment resources, visit Sun Life's enrollment services page on www.sunlife.com/us.

About Sun Life
Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of June 30, 2020, Sun Life had total assets under management of C$1,122 billion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.

In the United States, Sun Life is one of the largest group benefits providers, serving more than 60,000 employers in small, medium and large workplaces across the country. Sun Life's broad portfolio of insurance products and services in the U.S. includes disability, absence management, life, dental, vision, voluntary and medical stop-loss. Sun Life and its affiliates in asset management businesses in the U.S. employ approximately 5,500 people. Group insurance policies are issued by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Wellesley Hills, Mass.), except in New York, where policies are issued by Sun Life and Health Insurance Company (U.S.) (Lansing, Mich.). For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com/us.

Media contact:
Devon Fernald
Sun Life U.S.
781-800-3609
[email protected] 

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SOURCE Sun Life U.S.