Hospital indemnity insurance
Financial support during hospital stays
If you're admitted to the hospital, hospital indemnity insurance can help you pay for out-of-pocket costs associated with your stay — so you can focus on your recovery. With benefit payments made directly to you as a supplement to your major medical coverage, you can support your mind, body, and wallet®.
Who is it for?
It’s for people who want extra financial support if they’re hospitalized due to sickness or injury. It can help you focus on recovery, instead of worrying about bills.
What does it cover?
You'll receive a benefit payment paid directly to you, not your doctor or hospital, based on admission and days hospitalized. You can use the benefit payment to help cover any costs, from out-of-pocket medical expenses to added household costs, like child care.
Why consider it?
Hospital indemnity insurance can help pay for out-of-pocket costs you incur as a result of a hospital stay. It's a great supplement to your medical insurance because it serves as financial protection for unplanned expenses.
Roughly half of working adults would need to turn to loans, credit cards, or borrowing the money from their retirement plan or college savings account to cover an unexpected medical expense of $2,500 or more.¹
The value of hospital indemnity insurance
Meet Carol
Carol starts experiencing sever side pain and goes to the emergency room. She's admitted for emergency surgery to remove her appendix and spends the night in the hospital.
Carol has medical insurance, but still incurs out-of-pocket expenses.
Fortunately, she enrolled in hospital insurance through her employer, and receives a benefit paid directly to her to use toward her out-of-pocket costs — helping her focus more on recovering and less on the financial impact of her hospital stay.
Now, for a few dollars per paycheck, she and her family feel confident knowing that the next time life's unexpected moments require a hospital stay, they're covered.
Still wondering if hospital indemnity insurance is worth it? See FAQs, reasons to consider, and more important information.
Health screening benefits
With Guardian Hospital Indemnity Insurance, when you or someone covered under your plan completes certain routine screenings — such as a blood test, mammogram, or colonoscopy — you're eligible to receive a benefit payment once a year.²
Managing higher out-of-pocket medical costs
When medical costs go up, stress, worry, and pressure can easily rise, too. Hospital indemnity insurance can help cover expenses such as deductibles or copays associated with a hospital stay.
Quick and easy claims experience
We know you count on your benefits to be there when you need them. With Guardian Hospital Indemnity Insurance, you get quick, accurate payments. Plus, we'll cross reference any other supplemental health coverage you may have to ensure you receive payments for all eligible policies.
Need to submit a hospital indemnity insurance claim? Find forms and more helpful information here.
Remember, protection for your mind, body, and wallet® begins with your benefits offered at work.
Enrolling in hospital indemnity insurance is easy and cost-effective — be sure to take advantage to help protect yourself and your loved ones.
All scenarios and names mentioned herein are purely fictional and have been created solely for educational purposes. Any resemblance to existing situations, persons or fictional characters is coincidental.
1 The Value of Supplemental Health Insurance: How these benefits are evolving to help support holistic workforce well-being, Guardian’s 13th Annual Workplace Benefits Study, 2025
2 Not available in all states and subject to the group plan holder's election.
In Colorado, Hospital Indemnity is referred to as Accident and Sickness Indemnity.
Hospitalization, confinement, health screening, and additional benefit features are optional plan choices determined by your employer.
Guardian’s Group Hospital Indemnity Insurance is underwritten and issued by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, NY. Products are not available in all states.