Nationwide is launching a program to provide 24-hour assistance on a variety of questions to owners of variable annuities, the financial services firm announced Thursday.
The new service is known as the Nationwide Care Concierge service and it will provide the same kind of assistance that can usually be accessed through employee assistance programs. Retirees often lose this assistance when they leave their employers, Nationwide says.
The Care Concierge service will be administered by West’s Health Advocate Solutions, a clinical health-care advocacy provider. It is estimated that Care Concierge will initially be available to 25,000 members. In addition to contract owners, the program extends to their spouses, dependent children, parents and parents-in-law.
The benefits include such things as help in navigating Medicare, assistance in finding doctors and specialists, and help in arranging care for elderly parents.