Individuals and families have a great need for health and life insurance plans. Unfortunately, many people are unable to purchase individual coverage because of preexisting medical- conditions and/or the high cost of purchasing insurance. Therefore, many people rely on employer-sponsored plans as their sole source of life and health insurance. An employer- sponsored plan provides the following benefits for employees:

• Virtually all members of a given group may be insured, regardless of their prior health history.
• If the plan is contributory, the employee usually pays a lower rate per unit of benefits than is available with individual coverage.
• If the plan is noncontributory, the employer pays for coverage that employees would otherwise have to pay for with personal money.