Statement from Sun Life U.S. President,
Dan Fishbein, M.D., on the ERISA
Advisory Council's recommendation to Congress
WELLESLEY, Mass., Dec. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Dan Fishbein, M.D., president of Sun Life U.S.,
released the following statement regarding the ERISA Advisory
Council's recommendation that Congress pass legislation to require
mental health parity in long-term disability insurance.
Sun Life U.S. supports ERISA recommendation
to Congress for mental health parity in disability insurance.
"Mental health is health, unequivocally. Just as with physical
conditions, mental health conditions can render a person unable to
work. Disability insurance offers a level of income protection when
someone cannot work due to illness or injury – but by tradition in
the U.S. has typically only covered mental health conditions for
two years, depending on the policy. The ERISA Advisory Council
today has recommended that Congress pass legislation to ensure
mental health parity in disability insurance, which is already the
case for health insurance. As one of North America's largest disability insurers,
we support this important change. Mental health conditions should
be covered by long-term disability in the same way that physical
conditions are. We encourage Congress to take up and pass
appropriate legislation to make this happen.
The obvious question is why disability insurers don't just do
this on their own. Any one company introducing this approach
without a market-wide solution would immediately be uncompetitive.
A legislative solution is therefore the best option, ensuring an
equitable approach for all covered workers, while supporting a
strong and sustainable market for disability insurance.
Another key issue is the cost impact. While some have expressed
concerns that employers won't be able to afford the added cost of
full mental health coverage and will stop offering disability
insurance to their employees as a result, we don't believe this
will be the case. Employers rightly recognize disability insurance
as a valuable employee benefit that workers expect and rely on. If
all disability carriers provided mental health parity, the
additional cost would be relatively modest. Plus, disability
insurers bring significant resources to manage the cost, especially
by helping people get back to health and back to work.
There is a mental health crisis in America. Benefits designed 75
years ago and continued as a market tradition do not reflect
today's reality. We encourage others to join us in supporting
efforts to evolve disability coverage to meet the current needs of
American workers. We must do the right thing and ensure we are
covering the conditions that need to be covered, so that workers
can get the support and assistance they need. Getting people back
to health and back to work whenever possible remains the goal, and
providing good mental health benefits to bridge people through
times when they can't work is a good investment.
We applaud the ERISA Advisory Council's recommendation and stand
ready to work with members of Congress and other partners to
support appropriate legislation. Society benefits by helping more
workers get the mental healthcare they need, and Congress and the
industry have the opportunity to do just that."
About Sun Life
Sun Life is a leading international
financial services organization providing asset management, wealth,
insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional
Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide,
including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong
Kong, the Philippines,
Japan, Indonesia, India, China,
Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of September 30, 2023, Sun Life had total assets
under management of C$1.34 trillion.
For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.
Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New
York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the
ticker symbol SLF.
Sun Life U.S. is one of the largest providers of employee and
government benefits, helping more than 50 million Americans access
the healthcare and coverage they need. Through employers, industry
partners and government programs, Sun Life U.S. offers a portfolio
of benefits and services, including dental, vision, disability,
absence management, life, supplemental health, medical stop-loss
insurance, and healthcare navigation. Sun Life employs nearly 8,300
people in the U.S., including associates in our partner dental
practices and affiliated companies in asset management. Group
insurance policies are issued by Sun Life Assurance Company of
Canada (Wellesley Hills, Mass.), except in
New York, where policies are
issued by Sun Life and Health Insurance Company (U.S.)
(Lansing, Mich.). For more
information visit our website and newsroom.
Media contacts
Devon Fernald
Sun Life U.S.
Devon.Portney.Fernald@sunlife.com
781-800-3609
Anjie Coplin
Sun Life U.S.
Anjie.Coplin@sunlife.com
214-549-1553
Connect with Sun Life U.S.
https://www.facebook.com/SLFUnitedStates
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SOURCE Sun Life U.S.