Hourly, part-time and temporary workers should get valuable benefits, just like their full-time counterparts.

Many part-time and temporary employees are actually underemployed. They may be working two jobs and even have some type of “gig” employment on the side, struggling to make ends meet. If your business utilizes a high proportion of part-time workers, voluntary fixed indemnity insurance could be a lifeline for them. Employee-sponsored voluntary insurance can take care of their everyday healthcare needs at affordable prices. Although there are such plans available on the consumer market, an employer can use their buying power to provide lower pricing and better benefits than the employee may be able to get on their own.

Consider this: according to actuarial firm Milliman Consulting, only about 16% of workers incur more than $5,000 in medical bills annually. Yet the average deductible on a full blown major medical plan is over $6,000. This means that the vast majority are never reaching their minimum spend deductible where they would actually receive any financial relief! In other words, everyone is paying the high cost of unlimited coverage, but only a small fraction of them ever get anything from it.

But there is a solution. Affordable fixed indemnity voluntary insurance can cover doctors’ visits, diagnostic tests, x-rays, emergency room visits and outpatient surgery — things the average worker needs the most. Studies show that most low-wage workers live paycheck-to-paycheck and have less than one thousand dollars in savings. Even a simple sports accident that requires a trip to the emergency room could cause financial ruin.

Your help to these vulnerable employees may be invaluable, and most employers don’t realize that coverage for a part time or temporary workforce is available. Additionally, one of the biggest costs to employers who employ low-wage workers is the cost of turnover. A voluntary, employer-sponsored plan that is affordable and provides true value will inspire loyalty and help keep your part-time employees. Studies show that affordable, valuable insurance can extend an employee’s tenure by 50%. Not only is voluntary insurance good for your employees, it is good for your business.

If you are under the employer mandate due to the Affordable Care Act, you already know that compliant, major medical plans require astronomical deductibles before full time employees can even access their coverage benefits. For these workers, voluntary fixed indemnity insurance can cover these gaps. In fact, HR professionals have been calling employer-sponsored voluntary insurance a “necessity” in numerous publications for years.

Insurance Applications Group’s mission is to “enable employers to maintain their moral and inherent obligation to provide for the health and welfare of their employees.” It is easy to see part-time or low wage workers in term of costs, or just numbers. They are even called human “capital.” But they are individuals who deserve respect and are indispensable to businesses. In fact, many workers now classified as “essential” may be in part-time jobs.

Again, your help to these part-time employees through affordable, valuable, voluntary medical insurance can make a real difference, and cost you nothing.