Many workers today do not envision experiencing a long-term disability or even a short-term disability before they retire. The workplace reality is that one out of four employees in Wisconsin and in the United States will be disabled before retirement. Disability insurance and the ability to earn an income are extremely important issues since the average worker’s largest asset is their ability to earn an income. Once disabled, the likelihood of returning to your previous position is greatly declined.
Even though there is a 25 percent chance that you may become disabled only two-thirds or 100 million workers in the United States go without private disability insurance according to the Council for Disability Awareness. Many workers do not have long-term disability benefits because insurance can be expensive, but workers should be prepared in case of an emergency.
Employees may initially have a disability insurance policy through their employers, but the policy may not provide enough coverage and many only be a short-term option. If an employee has a policy with his or her employer, the employee should determine what the coverage is and acquire additional independent or group coverage to fill in any gaps. Independent or group policies can usually be purchased through the employer. The cost of policy would be deducted from the employee’s paycheck. Group policies also tend to be cheaper.
Alan Olson writes this web-log to provide helpful information regarding long-term disability cases. He practices long-term disability law throughout the United States from his offices in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Attorney Olson may be contacted at [email protected] with questions about the information posted here or for advice on specific disability benefit claims.
Disability insurance policies generally have a maximum amount of coverage and policies generally offer 60 to 70 percent of a worker’s salary. The cost of premiums tend to be two to four percent of the annual benefit amount and cost depends largely on the nature of work the employee does. For example, a construction worker is likely to pay more than an attorney for the same policy because the construction worker has a more dangerous job.
Workers should be sure they are covered in the short run and in the long term.
Source: nydailynews.com, “Employees should understand disability insurance plan for maximizing on benefits before retirement,” Jean Chatzky, 7/20/11
