- The average duration of a long-term disability is 30 months.
- JHA Disability Fact Book, 2006 - Nearly 1 in 5 Americans will become disabled for 1 year or more before the age of 65.
- Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education. November 2005 - Three out of 10 workers between the ages of 25 and 65 will experience an accident or illness that keeps them out of work for 3 months or longer.
- Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet, January 31, 2007 - Nearly 1 in 3 Americans ages 35-65 will become disabled for more than 90 days
- 2005 Field Guide to Estate Planning, Business Planning & Employee Benefits, by Donald Cady - Disability claims are lasting longer than in the past. Companies attribute this to several factors: the poor economic climate, the relatively greater severity and complexity of disabling conditions compared to those in the past, and the difficulty in returning qualified, willing claimants to work when few jobs are available for them to return to. The aging of the U.S. workforce may also be a factor.
- 2011 Long-Term Disability Claims Review, Council for Disability Awareness
Archive for the ‘Articles’ Category
The Duration of a Disability
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
The Cost of a Disability
Monday, December 12th, 2011
- 49% of workers would have difficulty supporting themselves within one month of becoming disabled.
- The Disability Survey conducted by Kelton Research on behalf of the LIFE Foundation, April 2009 - One work-related disabling injury costs an employer on average $48,000.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2010 Ed. - Off-the-job injuries to workers cost the nation at least $253.3 billion and 225 million days of production time in 2008.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2010 Ed. - The average disability absence results in payments of $3,800, while lost productivity costs on average over $22,800.
- Integrated Benefits Institute, IBI News September 8th, 2006 - Employers spend 4.1% of payroll on unscheduled absences.
- Marsh/Mercer Health & Benefits, “Health, Productivity and Absence Management Programs”, 2006 Survey report - In 2006, unscheduled absence cost some large employers an estimated $850,000 per year in direct payroll.
- CCH and Harris Interactive, “2006 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey,” October 2006 - Disabling injuries and illnesses account for 55% of employee absences.
- JHA 2005 Absence Management Survey, “Big-picture benefits: Integrating FMLA and disability claims data helps reduce absenteeism,” by Chris Silva, September 2006 - Just 10% of disability cases account for more than half the total medical and disability costs.
- Integrated Benefits Institute, IBI News September 8th, 2008
For more information about the cost of a disability or to request a disability insurance quote comparison, contact Set for Life Insurance.
Misconceptions About Disability Insurance
Sunday, December 11th, 2011
- At its current state, the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund is projected to exhaust by 2018.
- “A Summary of the 2011 Annual Reports.” The US Social Security Administration. 2011. Web. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/oact/trsum/index.html. - Nearly three-fourths of disabling injuries in 2008 are not work related, and therefore not covered by workers’ compensation.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2010 Ed. - More than 95% of long-term disability claims were not work-related in 2010.
- 2011 Long-Term Disability Claims Review, Council for Disability Awareness - Less than half – 35.9% – of the workers who applied for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits in 2010 were approved.
- 2011 Long-Term Disability Claims Review, Council for Disability Awareness - 40.2% of disabled men and 63.9% of disabled women in 2010 received SSDI benefits of less than $1,000 per month; only 3.9% of disabled workers received $2,000 or more in SSDI monthly benefits.
- 2011 Long-Term Disability Claims Review, Council for Disability Awareness - The average monthly SSDI benefit is $1,064.
- Social Security Administration, Monthly Statistical Snapshot, December 2009, ssa.gov - Comparison of Social Security disability insurance applications to the amount approved:
In 2007, the percentage of working-age people with disabilities receiving SSDI payments in the US was 17.1%.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007
- Over 6.8 million workers are receiving SSDI benefits, almost half are under age 50. This represents only 13% of the over 51 million Americans classified as disabled.
- Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet 2007 - The disabled worker population continues to steadily grow: The number of disable workers receiving SSDI claim payments increased by 5.3% from year end 2009 to year end 2010, continuing to outpace growth in the overall covered worker population.
- 2011 Long-Term Disability Claims Review, Council for Disability Awareness - Over 2.5 million workers in their 20s, 30s and 40s were receiving SSDI payments at the end of 2010; this constitutes over 30% of all workers receiving SSDI payments.
- Long-Term Disability Claims Review, Council for Disability Awareness
For more information about disability insurance or to request a personalized quote comparison, contact Set for Life Insurance today!
The Need for Disability Insurance
Saturday, December 10th, 2011
- Workers’ rankings of the most valuable activities to achieve long-term financial security:
- 40% of employees indicated protecting financial assets due to an unexpected event as a main concern.
- The Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM, First Quarter 2009 - 68% of employees surveyed said good employee benefits encourage them to work harder and perform better; 61% said good benefits keep them working for their current employer.
- The Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM, 2010 - Fewer than one in three (29%) U.S. workers have private long-term disability coverage
- National Compensation Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006 - 33% of workers have access to long-term disability insurance through their jobs.
- Employee Benefits Survey, The Bureau of Labor statistics, March 2009 - Only 30% of American workers in private industry currently have access to employer-sponsored long-term disability insurance coverage.
- National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 2006. - The odds of selling a product to a new customer are 15 percent, while the odds of selling to an existing customer are 50 percent.
- Raymond Adamson, Cross-Sell to Success, Advisor Today, March 2005 - The top reason producers are not selling IDI is because their clients do not ask about the product.
- LIMRA International, “Producer Perspectives on Individual Disability Insurance”, 2009 - Despite the fact that more than 70% of American households rely on two incomes to make ends meet, only 26% of Americans have any type of disability insurance.
- Facts from LIMRA May 2010 Multimedia Fact Sheet, based on findings from LIMRA’s life insurance consumer studies. - Only 18% of consumers recall being approached about buying disability insurance – less than half as many as those being approached for life insurance.
- Facts from LIMRA May 2010 Multimedia Fact Sheet, based on findings from LIMRA’s life insurance consumer studies. - Only 13% of small business owners have disability income insurance.
- Facts from LIMRA May 2010 Multimedia Fact Sheet, based on findings from LIMRA’s life insurance consumer studies. - Who buys disability insurance? While men represent the majority of new sales, sales to females grew at a slightly faster rate than sales to males in 2008.
Older age groups bought more policies in 2008, with an increase in both the 50-59 and 60+ age groups.
- Facts from LIMRA May 2010 Multimedia Fact Sheet, based on findings from LIMRA’s life insurance consumer studies.
Please contact Set for Life Insurance for more information about individual disability insurance and to request a personalized quote comparison
Workers Need To Be Prepared for A Disability
Friday, December 9th, 2011
From the CDA 2009 Worker Disability Planning and Preparedness Study:
- Only one in three workers surveyed associate financial planning with protecting assets and income (38%), tax planning (33%), or saving for a home purchase (32%).
- Nearly nine in ten workers surveyed believe that people should plan in their 20s or 30s in case an income limiting disability should occur (86%). Only half of all workers have actually planned for this possibility (50%), and only half have even discussed disability planning (46%).
- When surveyed what is most valuable in helping them achieve long-term financial security, far more workers rank their ability to earn a living as number one (53%) than assets such as retirement savings (17%), other savings and investments (12%), their home (12%), medical insurance (5%), or personal possessions (1%).
- The large majority of workers are concerned about how they would pay their living expenses if they were disabled (82%), yet most are not prepared if such a disability were to extend for any significant length of time. Seven in ten could cover their expenses for six months or less.
- 66% of executives surveyed believe that providing financial advice at the workplace is more important than it was a year ago
- Charles Schwab & Co. June 2009 - 76% of employed baby boomers and 68% of employed Generation Y workers say that the employer is among the most reliable sources of information about benefits.
- Harris Interactive Survey 2008 - Only 5% of baby boomers realize they have a 34% chance of becoming disabled during their working years.
- Harris Interactive/AHIP, Baby Boomers’ Awareness of Disability Risks, February 2008 - 45% of employees feel not at all knowledgeable about individually owned disability insurance.
- Principal Well-Being Index, 1QTR 2009 - 14% of employees personally own a disability income insurance policy on themselves, a significant decrease from 1st quarter 2008 when 18% reported owning such a policy. Only 7% of employees’ spouses own a disability income insurance policy.
- Principal Well-Being Index, 1QTR 2009
For more information about disability insurance for individuals or employees, contact the Set for Life Insurance office today to request a free quote comparison.