44% of Employees Could Not Pay $1,000 Out of Pocket While 78% of Employers Believe They Can, According to 2025 Aflac Report; David Vudragovich of AgentDavidCares Explains Medical Balance Protection™
Pikeville, Tennessee – October 20, 2026 – Medical Balance Protection™ is a group benefit that employers add alongside the health plan to financially protect employees from large medical bills. Employee confidence that their benefits would cover them well in a serious illness fell from 64 percent in 2024 to 58 percent in 2025, according to the Aflac WorkForces Report (2025).
In a September 2026 AgentDavidCares.com review of U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (2025), about 94 percent of fully insured Tennessee employer health plans with 100 to 300 participants start their plan year on January 1. One-quarter of employees say improvements to their benefits package could keep them in their job, according to the Aflac WorkForces Report (2025). Once the plan is chosen, one question remains. Can the employees afford to use it?
Medical Balance Protection™ is a group benefit that employers add alongside the health plan they already offer. It helps financially protect employees from the full maximum out-of-pocket amount, whether the cause is cancer treatment, a night in the hospital, or a pregnancy, according to David Vudragovich, a Licensed Independent Group Benefits Advisor with AgentDavidCares.com.
One way to reduce premiums is a higher deductible. The budget looks better, and the increase taken from the employee’s paycheck is smaller, but the employee carries more of the risk. More than half of employees (52 percent) report high anxiety about health care costs that insurance does not cover, according to the Aflac WorkForces Report (2025). About two in three Americans say they live paycheck to paycheck, according to PYMNTS Intelligence (January 2026).
“Picking a health plan and financially protecting employees require two different products,” said David Vudragovich. “Employers shop hard for the first one, and the second one often gets overlooked,” added David Vudragovich.
“A higher deductible can be a reasonable budget decision. The question is, when an employee has a bad day, how do they financially afford it? Restructuring into group benefits, not just having group health insurance, is one way to answer that,” emphasized David Vudragovich.
David Vudragovich wrote about what happened when a plan, just two weeks old, was put to the test: What a Two-Week-Old Plan Had to Prove
“Employee confidence dropped six points in one year,” David Vudragovich said. “That tells me employers are buying coverage, but employees are not feeling protected by it.”
More information about Medical Balance Protection™ is available at AgentDavidCares.com/Protect.
About David Vudragovich:
Licensed Independent Group Benefits Advisor in Pikeville, Tennessee. Licensed since 2007 and working in group benefits since 2016. Paid by the carrier, at no cost to the employer. Group Benefits Better™ because he does Group Benefits Differently™.
Videos: AgentDavidCares on YouTube
About The Company Being Featured
AgentDavidCares.com is a group benefits advisory founded in 2007 by David Vudragovich, a Licensed Independent Group Benefits Advisor in Pikeville, Tennessee. David Vudragovich has worked in group benefits since 2016. He works with employers that already offer group health insurance, and he is paid by the carrier at no cost to the employer. The mission is Group Benefits Better™ because he does Group Benefits Differently™. One advisor, one strategy, one relationship.
Media Contact
Company Name: AgentDavidCares.com
Contact Person: David Vudragovich
Email: Send Email
Phone: 865 806 5837
Address:PO Box 61 Pikeville, TN, 37367
City: Pikeville
State: Tennessee, 37367
Country: United States
Website: https://agentdavidcares.com/
