Guardian Life Insurance Company has added more than 20 new benefits to its hospital indemnity insurance offering, including what it called first-in-industry fertility health, family-building and caregiving wellness solutions.
The expanded coverage, announced Monday, aims to address employees’ evolving mental, physical and financial well-being needs in the workplace.
Key additions to the policy include a maternity benefit payment for expecting parents at 36 weeks gestation, a newborn nursery care benefit paid upon birth, and coverage for inpatient mental health and substance misuse treatments.
Guardian has also incorporated oral health benefits, including automatic payments for annual dental cleanings for those with Guardian dental insurance.
The enhancements extend to caregiving support through a partnership with Wellthy, providing employees with support services, digital planning tools and an online knowledge hub to assist with personal caregiving responsibilities.
In a notable industry first, Guardian is offering fertility health and family-building services through Carrot, delivering educational and support resources for individuals navigating fertility journeys, pregnancy, parenting, postpartum and menopause.
“Guardian’s research shows that workers who have a supplemental health insurance policy are 25% more likely to self-report high overall well-being compared to those who don’t have a policy,” said Jessica Vanscavish, Head of Disability, Absence, Life, and Supplemental Health at Guardian.
Hospital indemnity insurance pays fixed benefits directly to employees admitted for extended hospital stays. The funds can cover medical expenses like deductibles and co-insurance, or non-medical costs including travel, lodging or childcare expenses related to hospitalization.
The company also enhanced its claims process by automatically checking if employees filing short-term disability or state paid leave claims are enrolled in Guardian supplemental health policies, streamlining the payment process and eliminating the need for multiple claim filings.
These additions build on Guardian’s 2023 expansions to its critical illness insurance policy, which increased covered conditions and added coverage for preventive measures related to genetic mutations, infertility treatments, and mental health services.
Guardian, based in New York City with 165 years in operation, recently announced a 2025 dividend allocation of $1.6 billion, the largest in the company’s history.
