Title: Life, Disability and Absence Benefits
Source: https://ethosbenefits.com/services/ancillary-benefits
Publisher: Ethos Benefits
Summary: Ethos Benefits markets and manages life, AD&D, disability, leave and absence administration, dental, vision and voluntary benefits alongside your health plan.

1.  [Home](https://ethosbenefits.com/)
2.  [Services](https://ethosbenefits.com/services)
3.  Life, disability and absence.

# Life, disability and absence. And every other line beyond the health plan.

Your benefits package is more than the health plan: life and AD&D, short and long-term disability, leave and absence administration, dental, vision and voluntary coverage. Ethos Benefits markets and renews each line, compares contracts and rate guarantees, coordinates leave administration, and keeps every line on one calendar and one record.

[Request a Strategic Analysis](https://ethosbenefits.com/strategic-analysis)

## What you get.

These lines renew on their own schedules, with their own contracts and rate guarantees. Without one owner, they renew by default.

1.  **Marketing and renewals** Each line marketed or renewed on schedule, with rates, rate guarantees and contract terms compared side by side.
2.  **Absence and leave administration** FMLA and company leave administration coordinated with your disability carrier, and state paid leave programs where they apply.
3.  **Plan design** Coverage amounts, waiting periods and eligibility set to fit your workforce and your budget.
4.  **Contract review** Policies and administration agreements read for definitions, exclusions and service terms before they are signed.
5.  **Enrollment and communications** Every line included in open enrollment materials and employee support.
6.  **A voluntary benefits inventory** Every voluntary product listed with how it is offered and administered, so your committee knows which ones may be ERISA plans.

## Every line, _one calendar._

| Line | What we review |
| --- | --- |
| **Life and AD&D** | Benefit amounts, age reductions, conversion and portability, rate guarantees |
| **Short-term disability** | Benefit levels, waiting periods, coordination with state programs and paid leave |
| **Long-term disability** | Definitions of disability, offsets, pre-existing condition limits |
| **Leave and absence** | FMLA and company leave administration, and state paid leave where it applies |
| **Dental and vision** | Plan design, network, and rate guarantees |
| **Voluntary benefits** | How each product is offered, administered and communicated |

## Voluntary benefits _and ERISA._

Whether a voluntary benefit is an ERISA plan depends on how involved the employer is. If it is one, it comes with plan documents, disclosures and fiduciary duties of its own. Ethos keeps an inventory of every voluntary product so your committee knows where each one stands.

## Part of your Fiduciary Framework™.

Every Ethos service reports to your benefits committee. The work is reviewed at your quarterly committee meeting, each decision is recorded with the reasoning behind it, and the record lives in your Ethos Fiduciary OS. That is what lets your committee show the plan was run prudently.

[See the Fiduciary Framework™](https://ethosbenefits.com/fiduciary-framework) · [How fiduciary governance works](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/fiduciary-governance)

## Related reading.

-   [**What are voluntary benefits?** Benefits 101: What voluntary benefits are, the common types, how payroll deductions and taxes work, portability, commissions, and how employers can judge each product.](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/voluntary-benefits)
-   [**Voluntary benefits and fiduciary duty** Benefits 101: When employee-paid voluntary benefits become ERISA plans, what the DOL safe harbor requires, and why new class actions name employers and their brokers.](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/voluntary-benefits-fiduciary-duty)
-   [**Common invoice issues and evidence of insurability** Insight: How evidence of insurability (EOI) for life and disability coverage causes invoice errors and denied claims, and how employers can audit and fix the process.](https://ethosbenefits.com/insights/evidence-of-insurability-invoice-issues)

[Browse everything in Learn](https://ethosbenefits.com/learn)

## Sources

1.  [29 CFR § 2510.3-1, employee welfare benefit plan (including the voluntary plan safe harbor)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/29/2510.3-1), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School

## Questions employers ask about this.

Can voluntary benefits be ERISA plans?

Yes. A voluntary benefit can fall outside ERISA only if the employer’s involvement is limited, for example the employer does not contribute or endorse the program. Many arrangements cross that line without anyone noticing, which is why Ethos keeps an inventory.

Do you handle leave administration?

Ethos coordinates leave and absence administration with your disability carrier or leave administrator and includes it in the same renewal and review process as your other benefits.

Are these lines reviewed by the committee?

Yes. They follow the same calendar and record as the health plan under your Fiduciary Framework™.

## Keep reading Related to this page.

-   [**Procurement and contracts** Ethos Fiduciary Procurement is how Ethos Benefits runs RFPs for PBMs, TPAs, stop-loss and other plan vendors, scores every bid and negotiates the contract. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/procurement)
-   [**Employee communications** Ethos Benefits runs year-round benefits communication and open enrollment: email, text, meetings, one-on-one enrollment help and a two-way message line. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/employee-communications)
-   [**Compliance** Ethos Benefits keeps your health and welfare plans compliant with ERISA, the ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, mental health parity and the CAA, with every item proven. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/compliance)
-   [**Pharmacy and PBM** Ethos Benefits reviews your PBM contract and pharmacy spend, finds where spread pricing and rebates go, and helps your committee decide what to change. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/pharmacy-pbm)
-   [**Stop-loss procurement** Ethos Benefits markets, places and renews stop-loss coverage for self-funded health plans, and audits the contract so the policy pays when it should. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/stop-loss)
-   [**TPA and administrative contracts** Ethos Benefits runs TPA and ASO procurement for self-funded health plans and redlines the administrative services agreement before your company signs it. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/tpa-procurement)

## See what your plan is really costing you.

A Strategic Analysis starts with your plan documents and your broker agreement, then shows you what your plan costs, where the risk sits, and what a committee would decide with the full picture.

[Request a Strategic Analysis](https://ethosbenefits.com/strategic-analysis) [Call (407) 803-4710](tel:+14078034710)