The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), a leading provider of employee and voluntary benefit solutions for small and mid-sized companies, announced that it has enhanced its group disability plans in an effort to help business owners better manage expenses while giving employees desirable options suited to today’s economic climate.

“In today’s tough economy, many business owners face the challenge of managing benefit costs while leveraging benefits to retain valued employees,” said Barry Petruzzi, Guardian’s 2nd vice president, Group Life & Disability. “In response to this need, Guardian has developed meaningful and timely solutions to help employers manage these dual challenges.”

Guardian’s plan enhancements include Early Intervention Services, an absence management feature that provides custom stay-at-work and return-to-work programs for planned and unplanned employee absences. These services also include personalized case management with medical and rehabilitation specialists, claims assistance and coordination with medical providers to help employees return to work sooner, an attractive option that helps reduce the burden of employee absences on employers and ensures uninterrupted income for employees.

In addition, Guardian group disability plans now offer other cost-conscious options that give employees and their families’ greater protection and input in selecting the benefits they need most including:

• Medical/Dental Plan benefits that will help disabled employees pay medical and dental premiums in the event of a disability
• Spousal Disability benefits that will assist with expenses associated with the disability of a spouse
• Lifetime Critical Disability benefits that will help ensure benefits continue beyond the maximum duration, if an employee can’t return to work

“Recessionary times usually mean scaling back on employee benefits, but in today’s economic climate, consumers are looking for access to products that give them peace of mind and a sense of financial security,” said Petruzzi. “The combination of economic uncertainty, rising healthcare costs and job losses are forcing people to focus more on insuring their income. Now more than ever people are looking for flexible solutions to fit their needs and their wallets, and Guardian is committed to bringing big box features to small and mid-size businesses, no matter what the economic climate.”