Founded in 1860, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, NY (Guardian) is the fourth largest mutual life insurance company in the United States. As of December 31, 2004, Guardian and its subsidiaries had $39.5 billion in assets. With more than 5,000 employees and 2,900 financial representatives, as well as over 80 agencies nationwide, Guardian and its subsidiaries protect individuals, businesses and their employees with life, disability, health and dental insurance products, and offer 401(k), financial products and trust services.

Through an Alliance with Destiny Health Plan, Guardian offers affordable consumer-driven health plans to employer groups in selected markets. The unique model provides comprehensive coverage for uncontrollable costs, like hospitalizations and medications for chronic diseases, but also creates consumer-controlled savings accounts for discretionary and less costly services, with unspent money rolling over year to year. Click here for information on the Destiny Health Plan (not available in all states).
 

Financial Ratings

If you have a problem with Guardian's financial strength, you really should buy gold and bury it in the backyard.

A.M. Best A+ (Superior)
Standard & Poor's AA (Very Strong)
Moody's Aa2 (Excellent)
Fitch AA (Very Strong)
Weiss A (Excellent)

Information as of August 2005.

Plan Features

When it comes to employee benefits, follow a leader. We offer a complete array of affordable, high-quality coverages teamed with superior service that customers can truly count on.

With over 120,000 group plans in force, Guardian and its subsidiaries provide personal and financial protection to more than six million employees and their dependents nationwide. Let us show you why we're the carrier of choice for so many discerning companies.

Staying Healthy: Medical Benefits

Medical benefits, or health insurance, are among the most valuable of employee benefits options, providing significant support for and protection against potentially big financial expenses. Medical coverage is one of the most important benefits your employer can provide. Through Guardian, your employer may offer an HMO plan, point-of-service (POS) plan, preferred provider (PPO) plan, indemnity coverage, or a combination of these. In addition, you and your employer may reap the benefits of our cost saving programs, including NurseLine, Nurse Outreach, Lab Discounts and Coverage Management.

Through an arrangement with Private Healthcare Systems, Guardian offers preferred provider organizations (PPOs) nationwide. In addition, Guardian utilizes various regional PPOs to ensure that care is accessible for participating members most anywhere. A PPO is a network of facilities, physicians, and other providers that have agreed to serve covered individuals on a discounted fee-for-service basis. As a member, you'd have the choice of receiving network or non-network coverage, although non-network coverage is subject to higher deductibles and co-pays.

The following are just a few examples of the network providers who currently work with Guardian:

• Private Healthcare System (PHCS) Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)
• Guardian and Health Net's joint Point-of-Service/Health Maintenance Organization (POS/HMO) in New York, New Jersey* and Connecticut
• LabOne
• Medco Health Solutions
• HealthLink
• Alliance
• Dental Insurance

Through our DentalGuard insurance products, you and your family will receive comprehensive and flexible dental coverage. DentalGuard traditional indemnity plans offer you the option to visit any dentist or specialist when you need care. DentalGuard Preferred PPO combines the freedom of a traditional dental plan with the economy of managed care. With the PPO plan, you and your family can visit any dentist or specialist you choose or a high-quality DentalGuard Preferred network dentist, any time you need care. If you do visit a network provider, you'll receive the highest level of benefits and save on out-of-pocket costs. Best of all, our DentalGuard Preferred PPO features one of the industry's most extensive nationwide dental networks with over 70,000 provider locations.

After any applicable deductible, our indemnity and PPO plans pay a generous percentage of dental expense up to an annual maximum. Guardian also offers pre-paid dental health maintenance organization (DHMO) plans in certain geographical regions.

Disability Protection

Disability income insurance is a valuable benefit your employer may provide as group coverage. It provides payments (on a short-term or long-term basis or both) to employees when they cannot work because of illness or injury. If you were injured or got sick and were unable to work, you'd still need some form of income. Through Guardian, your employer may provide disability income insurance to ensure that if you become disabled, you'll have a source of income.

Guardian's AbilityGuardSM is a comprehensive family of short and long-term disability coverages and services that provide cash to employees who are unable to work because of a disability, and ensures that they will be protected, even if they use up their sick pay.

• AbilityGuard includes several convenient and valuable features:
• A highly professional claims team to ensure that disabled employees are treated fairly
• Return-to-work assistance to help get employees back to productive employment
• Access to Social Security specialists and vocational rehabilitation professionals
• An American with Disabilities/Return-to-Work information hotline

Life Insurance

Group life insurance is a common workplace benefit. It can help protect you and your beneficiaries with coverage that could be quite expensive if you had to buy it as an individual. Your employer may offer one of Guardian's range of group life insurance products; check with your human resources specialist to see whether these options are available to you:

Guardian's Basic Life policy can help you protect your family and ensure their financial security with dependent coverage.
Guardian's Universal Life is a permanent life product with cash-value accumulation potential and may include such options as disability waivers, accelerated life benefits, accidental death riders, and dependent riders.
 

Underwriting & Renewals

In the late 1980's Guardian, Principal and Travelers were the cream of the crop in medical benefits. Since the mid 1990's and health reform, Guardian has retreated as a leader in small group health insurance. They still offer fantastic benefit plans or medium and large corporations, but have withdrawn from doing business in several States. They have turned to their marketing arrangement with Destiny Healthcare for small group business.

Many small groups maintain coverage with Guardian but they would do themselves a service by having a professional organization shop the market for them. Guardian just isn't price competitive in the small group market.

Guardian offers great dental and disability plans. In our opinion, Guardian is the finest disabilty product in the U.S., bar none.

Let Castle Group Health find you the right carrier for your business.



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