The Handbook of Employee Benefits: Health and Group Benefits 7/E, 7th Edition

CHAPTER 2Functional Approach to Designing and Evaluating Employee Benefits

G. Victor Hallman III

This chapter deals with the functional approach toward analyzing an existing employee benefit program and evaluating the need for new or modified employee benefits. The functional approach can be defined as an organized system for classifying and analyzing the risks and needs of active employees, their dependents, and various other categories of persons into logical categories of exposures to loss and employee needs. These exposures and needs may include health care (medical, dental, and other) expenses, losses resulting from death, losses caused by short- and longterm disabilities, retirement income needs, other capital accumulation needs, needs ...