Aflac (AFL) Adds Features to Enrich Hospital Insurance Product
Aflac Incorporated AFL recently introduced an enhanced version of its individual hospital insurance product with the name of “Aflac Choice”. The upgrade mainly integrates mental health coverage within the product.
The benefits stemming from the enriched product tend to cover expenses related to hospital confinements arising from a wide array of common mental health conditions which are not covered under health insurance. To name a few, the mental health conditions encompass schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and eating disorders.
To ease availing the hospital confinement benefit, the least number of hours that a patient needs to stay in a hospital has been reduced to 18 hours from the prior mark of 23 hours.
Aflac Choice Hospital Insurance assures policyholders to not undergo any rate increases from the expanded coverage. Additionally, the upgraded product contains optional riders so that policyholders can boost income protection coverage.
With varied benefits wrapped within a single product, policyholders can customize their coverage per distinctive individual needs and budgets. The expanded insurance coverage aims to shield the income of a policyholder, which otherwise needs to be significantly dispensed in case of unanticipated medical bills arising from a mental health disease.
The latest product enrichment reflects Aflac’s continuous efforts to impart physical, financial and mental well-being to its policyholders. The same is also likely to expand the suite of AFL’s offerings in the mental health space.
Last year, Aflac included mental health coverage within its Individual Short-Term Disability insurance product. Also, it collaborated with the digital health platform NeuroFlow in 2022 to integrate a mental health solution into its Group Long-Term Disability offering.
The importance of integrating mental health coverage within its offerings seems to be aptly timed on the part of Aflac since Americans have been grappling with rising mental health issues for quite some time. The COVID-19 pandemic and escalating healthcare costs nationwide further worsened the scenario, necessitating the need for accessible and affordable mental health coverage.
Per the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental illness and substance use disorders account for 1 in every 8 emergency department visits made by a U.S. adult. Also, 24.7% of adults grappling with a mental health condition could not avail treatment due to inadequate funds, per Mental Health America.
Shares of Aflac have gained 10.3% in a year compared with the industry’s 14.2% growth. AFL currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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Other Stocks to Consider
Some other top-ranked stocks from the insurance space are CNO Financial Group, Inc. CNO, Employers Holdings, Inc. EIG and Brighthouse Financial, Inc. BHF, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The bottom line of CNO Financial outpaced estimates in two of the last four quarters, matched the mark once and missed the same on the remaining one occasion, the average surprise being 14.15%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CNO’s 2023 earnings suggests an improvement of 15.5%, while the same for revenues indicates growth of 3.5% from the corresponding year-ago reported figures. The consensus mark for CNO’s 2023 earnings has moved 4.3% north in the past seven days.
Employers Holdings’ bottom line outpaced estimates in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark once, the average being 26.87%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EIG’s 2023 earnings indicates a 5.8% rise, while the same for revenues suggests 20.7% growth from the respective prior-year reported figures. The consensus mark for EIG’s 2023 earnings has moved 6.9% north in the past 30 days.
The bottom line of Brighthouse Financial outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark once, the average surprise being 2.07%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BHF’s 2023 earnings suggests a 33.5% improvement, while the same for revenues suggests 2.7% growth from the respective prior-year reported figures. The consensus mark for BHF’s 2023 earnings has moved 4.2% north in the past 30 days.
Shares of CNO Financial, Employers Holdings and Brighthouse Financial have gained 4.9%, 5.5% and 17%, respectively, in a year.
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CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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