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Lincoln National (LNC) Launches Solution, Boosts Health Portfolio

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Lincoln National Corporation (LNC - Free Report) recently introduced a Hospital Indemnity solution in an effort to cover unanticipated medical costs of its Group Benefits customers. The insurance solution, which will be part of the company’s supplemental health solutions portfolio, will initially be made available across 26 states from the beginning of next year and subsequently to more states in early 2022.

The Hospital Indemnity insurance will offer claimants with a lump-sum amount in case any covered employee or any of his/her family member is hospitalized or is subject to an outpatient surgery linked to any covered illness or injury.

Thus, employers will be able to shield their employees from the financial challenges stemming from unexpected hospital admissions and address costs, which are often not part of one’s traditional medical insurance. The Hospital Indemnity solution also provides added benefits related to mental disorder and substance abuse treatment benefits, and infectious disease-related tests.

The recent move highlights Lincoln National’s sincere efforts to bolster its supplemental health solutions portfolio. It will continue to offer Accident and Critical Illness insurance along with the Hospital Indemnity insurance. Cumulatively, these will help Americans in creating a stable financial future, which in turn will strengthen Lincoln National’s nationwide presence. Case in point, the company boasts of a massive supplemental health customer base spread across a wide array of industries.

Health insurance products similar to the latest solution seems to be of utmost importance. These solutions help in alleviating the financial stress of employees, who come under tremendous pressure due to unanticipated costs related to unforeseen injuries, diseases or hospitalizations.

The solution is a time-opportune one as well considering growing interest of employees toward utilizing solutions that cover healthcare costs. Escalating healthcare expenses have been affecting the financial stability of Americans for decades. Per the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), national health spending is anticipated to witness an average annual growth of 5.4% over the 2019-28 period. The coronavirus outbreak aggravated the scenario. According to a Lincoln National survey, over half of Americans are unable to afford an unanticipated hospital bill of $1000 or more. The same survey stated that over 50% of employees are curious to know more about the benefits of Hospital Indemnity.

The company remains focused on serving employer clients and their employees through enhanced product offerings. In December 2020, Lincoln National announced the integration of its two core businesses — Retirement Plan Services and Group Benefits business lines — to create a broader Workplace Solutions organization. Following integration, both the service lines continued to roll out innovative product and service offerings. As a result, the company is positioned well to broaden its portfolio and stabilize customer experience.

Several product launches and upgradations of existing ones resulted in a well-diversified product portfolio and boosted sales for the company. This has continued to drive Lincoln National’s revenues, which improved 18.2% in the first half of 2021.

Zacks Rank & Price Performance

Shares of Lincoln National, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), have surged 85.8% in a year compared with the industry’s growth of 7.1%.

Zacks Investment Research
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Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks in the life insurance space include Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (BHF - Free Report) , Athene Holding Ltd. and Voya Financial, Inc. (VOYA - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Brighthouse Financial, Athene and Voya Financial have a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 52.23%, 47.78% and 9.13%, on average, respectively.

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