Imagine getting injured at home and breaking a few bones making it impossible to work for weeks, you have used up all your paid time off, you have bills piling up and you really don’t want to dip into your retirement account again, what do you do? In scenarios like this imagine having a $1500 a week safety blanket. With short term disability you can protect you and your family while you are injured so that all you need to focus on is getting better.
According to simplyinsurance.com, “About 5.6% of Americans in the workforce will experience a short-term disability every year.†(Statista)
Just for some perspective to you there are 328.2 million people living in America as of July 2020 and 252.01 million of those are adults from ages 20-64, so that would mean that each year there are approximately 14 MILLION hard working people that may have to miss work due to an illness or injury.
What is Short term Disability?
Short term disability coverage is an individual coverage that pays out a benefit for the time that you may be off work due to an injury, sickness or FMLA purposes. With short term disability the benefit amount is a percentage of your income that is also affected by other factors such as age and overall health. As it relates to coverage benefits, Short Term Disability is the type of coverage that is adjustable overtime as you get older, and your income changes you may require more coverage to protect yourself and your income at various stages of your life.
With some insurance companies, the newer Short Term Disability policies come with other benefits that address the worries and thoughts of the upcoming working men and women as well as the veteran workers that have the experience to know exactly what they need. Over the past several years the light shining on mental health has become brighter and broader, so insurance companies are rising to the occasion and creating newer more improved benefits and policies such as short-term disability plans that cover doctor prescribed drug rehabilitation and doctor prescribed mental illness breaks which is an amazing step in the right direction for healthcare. They have also created FMLA benefits for the caregivers of the family like a mother that has to stay home and take care of her sick children or a husband that has to take care of his wife while she is going through treatment.
During covid, millions of people were affected. There were many causes for not being able to work, either by contracting the virus, having to stay home and take care of a loved one or even worse, having to grieve the loss of someone close. With short term disability, these tough times can feel a bit lighter. As of February 2022, “51 million working adults in the U.S. are without disability insurance.†(El). Out of this statistic how many hard-working individuals do you think are able to bounce back from their injuries quick enough to not miss any work? Would they have 6 months’ worth of sick days to cover the time they are in the ICU for injuries from a car accident? Are you willing to risk your livelihood and your family’s peace of mind? How to find the best option for you? When looking for short term disability options make sure to do thorough research by reaching out to your HR and see if there are payroll deductible options available for you and if not when looking for a plan on your own, make sure to highlight all your different sources of income, ask questions about the claims process so you wont be blind sided when the time comes to file a claim, If you have any medical conditions or are most likely to get an illness due to family health history, make sure to select a plan that will cater to those variables. Ask about benefit periods and elimination periods and see how those limitations correspond with your sick time or vacation times. Leave no stone unturned. I hope this blog post really brings clarity and guides you towards protecting yourself and your loved ones.
SourcesÂ
El, Aten-Re. “95+ Disability Insurance Stats & Disability Facts (2021)” Simplyinsurance, 10 Feb. 2022, https://www.simplyinsurance.com/disability-statistics/. Accessed 1 Jan. 1970. “• U.S. population by age and gender 2019 | Statista.” https://www.statista.com/statistics/241488/population-of-the-us-by-sex-andage/#:~:text=The%20estimated%20population%20of%20the%20U.S.%20was%20approximately,this%20 age%20category%20and%20around%2011.5%20million%20females., Accessed 1 Jan. 1970.
