Aflac Inc, is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States. Recent news, Gilbert Gottfried was fired as the spokesman for Aflac after making insensitive remarks on Twitter about the tsunami/earthquake in Japan. Gilbert Gottfried provided the voice of the duck that appears in their commercials.
Aflac was founded in 1955 and based in MidTown Columbus, Georgia. In the United States, Aflac underwrites a wide range of insurance policies, but is perhaps more known for its payroll deduction insurance coverage, which pays cash benefits when a policyholder has a covered accident or illness. The company states it insures "one of four Japanese households" and is "the largest life insurer in Japan in terms of individual insurance policies in force". Aflac is also well known for its supplemental medical policies.
Aflac currently is the number one Supplemental Health provider in the U.S., followed closely by Allstate Workplace Division. Aflac has a field force of over 70,000 agents in the U.S.
Aflac acquired Continental American Insurance Company to expand its coverage beyond voluntary benefits alone in 2009.
Back to Gilbert Gottfried, he was fired by Aflac on March 14, 2011 due to postings on Gottfried's Twitter account in reference to the disastrous tsunami that hit Japan. The company's chief marketing officer stated that "Gilbert's recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac."
