Author Topic: Aflac, is it a ripoff?  (Read 41341 times)

greenmimama

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Aflac, is it a ripoff?
« on: February 05, 2014, 08:05:07 PM »
We have been paying for Aflac for about 2 years now, just the accident coverage which is about $25/month I believe, we of course haven't had to use it, but we would have it we had had it sooner, which is sort of why we bought it, my DH was in 3 accidents pretty close together.

We added dental 6 months ago and I just sat down and figured out it was pretty much a rip off, I think, if I did the math correctly and I am understanding the benefits right.

So should I just make this dental claim and then cancel? the dental is $50/month and they don't pay out a whole lot, $50/visit basically, and since you only go twice a year, and we have a family of 5, it doesn't make much sense.

Am I right? please let me know what you think.

lordrtype1

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Re: Aflac, is it a ripoff?
« Reply #1 on: February 06, 2014, 03:23:33 AM »
I sold these policies years ago, but I can tell you the only ones I would personally carry are ones for cancer, heart attack or stroke.  Those are the only ones I saw that were worth more than you'd even pay for them.  One of my clients has her policy for a few years, I saw she had paid about 2k-3k for it, but it paid her 18k when she was diagnosed with cancer. And those pay each day you're in the hospital money to you, so even with insurance, they help A LOT!

Accident policies are more questionable, by comparision.  I don't know how aflac writes theirs, but the ones I sold only paid while you're in the hospital as the result of an accident, and while that would indicate a very serious event, you have to consider how likely you would need to worry about any accident you could have would put you in the hospital for more than a couple days.  I would have the aflac rep explain clearly when that kicks in and under what circumstances, because that may help you decide what you want to do.

MissPeach

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Re: Aflac, is it a ripoff?
« Reply #2 on: February 06, 2014, 10:54:10 AM »
I looked into them for a company I worked for several years ago so they might have changed since then.

They are pretty good at selling you on the 'insurance' and hyping you up at all the money you can get from them. In reality most people would pay far more than they would get in benefits when I actually ran the numbers. Also there are some really strange restrictions that can keep you from getting the money. For example someone I knew who had it for pregnancy couldn't get paid if they used a midwife over a doctor.

Even though I had several employees who liked the idea of us offering it, I passed on it because it so rarely would have been a good deal to someone who signed up IMO. I figured if we were going to offer these types of policies I would look at offering LTD and other types of policies that were more likely to be worth it.

ShortInSeattle

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Re: Aflac, is it a ripoff?
« Reply #3 on: February 06, 2014, 02:25:50 PM »
It seems that a nicely funded 3-6 month emergency fund would make these kinds of policies unnecessary.


foobar

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Re: Aflac, is it a ripoff?
« Reply #4 on: February 06, 2014, 03:55:31 PM »
I thought the point of these policies was to cover you in the cases of long term disability when you lose the ability to work in your field for extend (6+ months) periods of time.    If your FI, I can't see why you would need a policey but if you aren't then it becomes a question of how paranoid are you.

It seems that a nicely funded 3-6 month emergency fund would make these kinds of policies unnecessary.

lordrtype1

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Re: Aflac, is it a ripoff?
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2014, 04:59:26 AM »

I thought the point of these policies was to cover you in the cases of long term disability when you lose the ability to work in your field for extend (6+ months) periods of time.    If your FI, I can't see why you would need a policey but if you aren't then it becomes a question of how paranoid are you.

It seems that a nicely funded 3-6 month emergency fund would make these kinds of policies unnecessary.

My point is this:  The cancer policy I sold was about 18/mo, for essentially up to 150/day in benefits, and double for icu.  The stroke was another 5/mo rider on that (this was a while back, so it might have gone up since then).  so, for 2760 (about 10 years worth of coverage), you have a policy that during that time can pay you, like some of the clients I had, about 3k-22k in benefits.  Cancer treatment, if successful, usually only has you down a few weeks; once you start certain treamtents, you could go back to work.  But WHILE you're down, you can't be on disability (it's short term, usually doesn't qualify unless long term) or unemployment (you're employer would have to let you go the day you check into the hospital, which is likely grounds for a lawsuit, and most states you have a waiting period anyway before you got benefits), so you have 0 income, and treatment may be 5 figures, even WITH insurance!  If you can save that amount, that's fine, but I can tell you I would rather pay 2760 every ten years, and keep my 10k, than try to save 10k (It's gonna be more, I'm low balling) for a stormy day like that, and then hope it won't hurt my FI.  The insurance isn't going to make being diagnosed a 0 cost, but it helps at a time you're basically getting a kick in the face.

Most insurance is designed to give you more than you pay.  Best example: term life.  You will NEVER pay enough into a 500k policy to make it cheaper to save the money yourself, even if your parents buy it when you're 0, and you keep it till 100, renewing at the higher rates it steps up to as you age.  These supplimentary policies work on that principal.  They're cheap, and yes, they're specific, but when you have one and need it, you'll never be mad for paying for it for 20 years.  I personally don't like accident policies, because depending on the industry you're in, they're worthless.  I  do construction, and I can tell you an accident policy for me 25/mo probably pay 25-50/day for hosp stay, so it would be worthless to me.

One more point: if you get aflac through work, it'll be cheaper than you can buy it on your own, and you can keep it after you leave if you want.

Insurance is one of those things us people get to avoid catastrophic loss. Millionaires and billionaires carry insurance against frivolous lawsuits and even kidnapping; you really think if they have that much money, they would spend money on something they don't need, when it may cost 4-7 figures (depending on their worth) to have?

huadpe

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Re: Aflac, is it a ripoff?
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2014, 07:19:29 AM »
I thought the point of these policies was to cover you in the cases of long term disability when you lose the ability to work in your field for extend (6+ months) periods of time.    If your FI, I can't see why you would need a policey but if you aren't then it becomes a question of how paranoid are you.

It seems that a nicely funded 3-6 month emergency fund would make these kinds of policies unnecessary.

AFLAC is not long term disability - it's short term disability.  Long term disability policies often make a lot of sense when you're not FI yet, especially since Social Security disability is not very generous.

MissPeach

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Re: Aflac, is it a ripoff?
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2014, 01:22:59 PM »
The ones I looked at were short term disability but typically covered only a small thing like pregnancy or cancer. It's wasn't broad coverage like you usually see through group plans or can buy elsewhere.

foobar

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Re: Aflac, is it a ripoff?
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2014, 02:59:03 PM »
So 2760 for lets say 27k in benefits. Do you really think the odds of you getting cancer/having a stroke are 1 in 10? Cancer rate in the use is ~.3/100. Stroke rate is about the same.  Yeah if you need it you will regret not having it. But you could say that about everything. If my car breaks and I didn't buy the extended warranty, I will regret it. My tv fails after 2 years, yet again should have bought the extended warranty. And so on. You end up picking and choosing what you want.

I can handle 50k losses. I can't handle 500k+ dollar losses (i.e. me not working for the next 25 years) so I currently have life insurance.

You sleep better knowing that you are going to handle a rare occurrence(cancer) well. I sleep better knowing a likely occurrence (i.e. retirement) is handled better.




I thought the point of these policies was to cover you in the cases of long term disability when you lose the ability to work in your field for extend (6+ months) periods of time.    If your FI, I can't see why you would need a policey but if you aren't then it becomes a question of how paranoid are you.

It seems that a nicely funded 3-6 month emergency fund would make these kinds of policies unnecessary.

My point is this:  The cancer policy I sold was about 18/mo, for essentially up to 150/day in benefits, and double for icu.  The stroke was another 5/mo rider on that (this was a while back, so it might have gone up since then).  so, for 2760 (about 10 years worth of coverage), you have a policy that during that time can pay you, like some of the clients I had, about 3k-22k in benefits.  Cancer treatment, if successful, usually only has you down a few weeks; once you start certain treamtents, you could go back to work.  But WHILE you're down, you can't be on disability (it's short term, usually doesn't qualify unless long term) or unemployment (you're employer would have to let you go the day you check into the hospital, which is likely grounds for a lawsuit, and most states you have a waiting period anyway before you got benefits), so you have 0 income, and treatment may be 5 figures, even WITH insurance!  If you can save that amount, that's fine, but I can tell you I would rather pay 2760 every ten years, and keep my 10k, than try to save 10k (It's gonna be more, I'm low balling) for a stormy day like that, and then hope it won't hurt my FI.  The insurance isn't going to make being diagnosed a 0 cost, but it helps at a time you're basically getting a kick in the face.

Most insurance is designed to give you more than you pay.  Best example: term life.  You will NEVER pay enough into a 500k policy to make it cheaper to save the money yourself, even if your parents buy it when you're 0, and you keep it till 100, renewing at the higher rates it steps up to as you age.  These supplimentary policies work on that principal.  They're cheap, and yes, they're specific, but when you have one and need it, you'll never be mad for paying for it for 20 years.  I personally don't like accident policies, because depending on the industry you're in, they're worthless.  I  do construction, and I can tell you an accident policy for me 25/mo probably pay 25-50/day for hosp stay, so it would be worthless to me.

One more point: if you get aflac through work, it'll be cheaper than you can buy it on your own, and you can keep it after you leave if you want.

Insurance is one of those things us people get to avoid catastrophic loss. Millionaires and billionaires carry insurance against frivolous lawsuits and even kidnapping; you really think if they have that much money, they would spend money on something they don't need, when it may cost 4-7 figures (depending on their worth) to have?