Voya's CEO exposed a benefit gap hitting two groups of workers
Two groups of American workers are falling through the cracks of the employer benefits system, and the CEO of one of the country's largest workplace benefits companies just put a spotlight on the problem.
Voya Financial CEO Heather Lavallee sat with CNBC's Sharon Epperson on May 15, 2026, and explained why caregivers and people with disabilities are routinely missing out on financial benefits that their coworkers use every enrollment season.
Lavallee zeroed in on ABLE accounts, a tax-advantaged savings tool designed specifically for people with qualifying disabilities, and made the case that employers bear responsibility for bridging the gap between what benefits exist and what workers can access.
Lavallee told CNBC that standard benefits fail caregivers and disabled workers
Lavallee explained to Epperson that the financial products most employers offer, including 401(k) plans, health savings accounts, and group life insurance, were not built with caregivers or workers with disabilities in mind.
For employees who rely on government programs like Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid, participating in a standard retirement plan can push their countable assets above $2,000, which triggers a loss of those essential benefits, Lavallee told CNBC.
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That dynamic creates a painful trade-off that most colleagues never encounter: save for retirement and risk losing government health coverage and income support, or skip the workplace plan entirely and fall further behind on long-term savings.
Lavallee pointed to ABLE accounts as a key solution that employers can weave into their benefits packages, allowing eligible workers to save without jeopardizing their public benefits.
"We launched Voya Cares 10 years ago to address real employment and financial planning challenges faced by people with disabilities and caregivers," Lavallee said in an April 2026 Voya Financial statement marking the program's tenth anniversary.
ABLE accounts expanded in 2026 but most eligible workers still do not use them
Lavallee highlighted ABLE accounts as one of the most underused financial tools available to employees with disabilities, a point backed by Voya's own research.
Congress created these tax-advantaged savings accounts in 2014 to allow people with qualifying disabilities to save for housing, education, healthcare, and transportation costs without losing eligibility for means-tested government programs such as SSI and Medicaid.
As of January 1, 2026, the ABLE Age Adjustment Act expanded eligibility from people whose disability began before age 26 to those with onset before age 46, opening the door for an estimated 8 million additional Americans and bringing total eligibility to roughly 15 million people, CNBC reported.
Yet Voya's April 2026 research found that only 2% of employees correctly understand the key features of these accounts, even though 51% have at least heard of them.
"Many clients and even some advisors are unfamiliar with the program, its eligibility rules, and the tax-free benefits it offers," Nicky Amore, a certified financial planner at Parallel Advisors in Chicago, told Financial Advisor Magazine in a December 2025 interview.
Voya research shows employers overestimate how well they support disabled workers
The research Voya released in April 2026 to support Lavallee's advocacy revealed a persistent disconnect between what employers believe they provide and what workers with disabilities experience.
About 90% of employers said they adequately support employees with disabilities, but only 76% of those employees agreed with that assessment, the Voya study found.
The barriers stretch beyond the workplace as well: roughly 21% of people with disabilities reported facing discrimination when seeking financial planning help at financial institutions, a rate five times higher than the 4% experienced by the general population.
We're seeing growth in younger caregivers, especially among racially and ethnically diverse communities. Now caregivers are just as likely to be a millennial or Gen Z family member, part of the ‘sandwich generation,' juggling a job, young kids, and an aging parent
Nearly 46% cited emotional stress as a barrier to pursuing professional financial guidance at all, compared with 25% of the broader population, according to Voya research.
"Many employees are quietly balancing caregiving responsibilities alongside their careers, yet those needs are often overlooked in traditional financial conversations," Juneen Kirk, senior vice president of customer experience at Voya's Workplace Solutions division, said in the company's April 2026 release.
Caregivers face compounding financial setbacks that most employers overlook
Lavallee's CNBC interview also addressed the financial toll on family caregivers, the other group she identified as underserved by current employer benefits structures.
About 63 million Americans, nearly one in four adults, now provide ongoing care for a family member, a 45% increase since 2015,according to AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving in their 2025 national survey.
Nearly half of those caregivers reported at least one significant financial setback tied to their responsibilities, including taking on new debt, draining short-term savings, or pulling money from retirement accounts to cover ongoing costs.
About one-third said they had stopped saving entirely, and 23% reported carrying debt directly caused by their caregiving duties, the AARP report found.
"Family caregivers are a backbone of our health and long-term care systems, often providing complex care with little or no training, sacrificing their financial future and their own health, and too often doing it alone," AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan said when the report was released in July 2025.
What Lavallee says employers and workers should do about the benefits gap
Lavallee told Epperson that employers need to take direct action to integrate benefits like ABLE accounts, caregiver support services, and targeted financial education into their existing benefits platforms.
Voya's own Voya Cares program, which the company launched publicly in 2017, offers resources that include ABLE account education, a caregiving concierge service through a partnership with Wellthy, and sponsorship for financial professionals pursuing the Chartered Special Needs Consultant designation, the company noted.
For employees, the practical takeaway is that standard 401(k) and health insurance options may not reflect the full range of benefits a company offers. Some employers provide ABLE account access, caregiver-specific programs, or supplemental coverage for workers with disabilities, and a benefits department can clarify what's available during enrollment.
The tools Lavallee described are expanding at both the employer and federal levels, but they deliver results only when the workers who need them most know they exist and understand how to use them.
Related: Why Businesses Should Value Caregivers Now
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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 8:07 PM.