COLUMBIA, S.C.—Colonial Life, a pioneer of voluntary worksite benefits, is making it easier for employers of all sizes to offer two of the industry’s most popular health benefits to help protect their workers with the introduction of Colonial Life Dental and Vision. The Colonial Life dental and vision plans are available in 40 states, effective on March 26. Dental and vision insurance—essential parts of any employee benefit package—round out Colonial Life’s competitive product portfolio, the company noted.

“Dental and vision benefits help maintain and promote overall health, and are fundamental parts of any competitive employee benefits package,” said Colonial Life president and CEO Tim Arnold. “This new offering is just one example of how our employees deliver on our commitments to protect America’s workers and their families.”

The dental and vision plans offer employers and their employees Colonial Life’s strong industry reputation, simplified administration with consolidated billing, and personalized, professional service, the company said, noting that the Colonial Life dental plan is easy for individuals and families to use—with access to a national network of more than 323,000 providers.

A spokesperson told VMAIL that Colonial Life’s vision coverage includes 60,000 access points and are locations that represent the wide-ranging areas covered by the network. In many cases, an OD or MD may provide service at multiple locations (often two or three).

Colonial Life’s dental and benefits use the expertise and experience of its sister company, Starmount Life Insurance Company, a national dental and vision carrier. Colonial Life and Starmount are both units of Unum Group (NYSE:UNM), which acquired Starmount and its Always Care dental and vision benefits business, as VMAIL reported in April 2016; the deal closed in August 2016.

Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company is a market leader in providing financial protection benefits through the workplace, including disability, life, accident, dental, cancer, critical illness and hospital confinement indemnity insurance. The company’s benefit services and education, innovative enrollment technology and personal service support more than 90,000 businesses and organizations, and 3.8 million of America’s workers and their families.

Unum’s four distinct, but similarly focused businesses—Unum US, Unum UK, Colonial Life and Starmount Life—are each a market leader in disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental and vision insurance. Thirty-three million people at 181,000 companies rely on Unum’s products and services—including a third of Fortune 500 companies.