You have a disability. Now what should you do?
When you first sustain an injury or develop a condition that will prevent you from working for some amount of time, you may be worried about how it will affect your life, particularly your income. Fortunately, many people have disability insurance either through their employer or through other sources. This insurance, depending on specific details about your personal program, can ensure that your income is maintained either until you can work again or until you reach age 65.
How can you get insurance for disabilities?
In the United States there are a variety of programs that can benefit people living with physical disabilities. A disabled person’s career and income are often one of their most pressing concerns, and many employers offer insurance or benefits of some type to ensure that these disabilities will not render employees helpless and out of income.
If you have never had to file a claim or your employer provides disability insurance at no cost, you may not be aware of the insurance benefits for physical disabilities that are available to you. Checking the paperwork you received during your job’s orientation or asking your company’s human resources department can help you find out whether you have short-term disability insurance, long-term disability insurance, or both.
Some employers pay all of the premiums and give the benefits to eligible employees at no cost. Some offer disability at discounted group rates and give eligible employees the option to elect to have coverage. Others offer short-term disability insurance for free and give employees the option to elect to have long-term coverage.
Several states offer insurance benefit programs for physical disabilities. You might be covered by one of these plans if you do not have a private program or one through your employer, or you may be paying into your state’s program through automatic payroll deductions. These programs are typically administered by the same agency that administers unemployment insurance, and your state’s unemployment office is a good place to start looking for this information.
If you have paid social security taxes, you also may collect social security disability benefits at any age. However, social security will not provide coverage in the event that your particular disability will prevent you from working for a year or more.
The United States Veterans Administration offers two programs for veterans with disabilities, and also provides related programs such as vocational rehabilitation and health care benefits.
What will disability insurance cover?
Depending on your particular program, you may receive benefits either if you cannot perform your own occupation or if you cannot perform any occupation. Policies that cover disabilities which prevent you from performing your own occupation may provide greater benefits because your earning potential will be greatest with your job skills.
Long-term policies will provide benefits to people with disabilities up to age 65, and short-term policies will pay for a given period of time. Partial disability programs will pay a certain amount for a defined period of time when you are declared disabled. Insurance plans with residual benefits will pay in proportion to the loss of income from physical disabilities.
It is important to know specific details about your disability coverage before you may need to take advantage of it and to know what features you may be looking for if you are currently choosing from among several different options.
By Kristin Cleveland