Health Care Insurance

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Are you covered for Short-term disability


Short-term disability is private insurance that replaces some of your income if an injury or illness prevents you from working. While you are away from work it pays you a percentage of your income for a defined period of time.

Some employers provide group policies as part of their benefits packages. If your employer does not offer short-term disability or you want additional coverage you can buy an individual policy from an insurance agent.

State temporary disability insurance (TDI) programs are currently available in six states/territories:

  • California
  • New York
  • New Jersey
  • Rhode Island
  • Hawaii
  • Puerto Rico (Spanish)

For a longer illness lasting six months or more your employer may provide group long-term disability (LTD) insurance. The Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) offers an LTD guide that includes information about individual disability income insurance and offers tips and a checklist on buying the right policy for you.

Social Security provides long-term disability benefits based on your salary and the number of years you have worked and contributed to the Social Security system. However, Social Security replaces only a limited portion of your salary, and the qualifications to receive benefits are very strict. To be eligible for Social Security disability benefits, all of these conditions must be met:

  • You have been disabled for five full calendar months.
  • Your disability is expected to last at least 12 months or end in death.
  • You are unable to be gainfully employed at any occupation, not just your occupation at the time your disability began.

Disabilityinfo.gov is the federal government’s web site for disability-related information and services. You may wish to access information about disability benefits, or locate state and local resources.

If you were injured on the job, you should contact your state workers’ compensation office.



 

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Posted on on May 30th, 2008 in Getting Help, Government help, Protect your Health, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Long term disability Insurance


Our society has made so many advancements in medicine and medical research that people are living longer lives. Many diseases and injuries that would have meant death just a generation ago can now be treated and healed. The advancements are wonderful, but also very costly. For some people it is frustrating to know that the technology to improve their life is available, but it may not be affordable.

The insurance industry is trying to keep up with the medical advancements. This is difficult for them because their main reason for being in business is to make a profit. If they are paying out large insurance claims they make less of a profit. In order to assure a strong profit insurance companies are starting to create compartment insurance policies for people to buy.

One insurance that was not available to the generation before us is long term disability. This insurance pays a portion of your income to you if you become disabled during your working years. Long term disability is paid out if you are going to be unable to work for longer than six months. The amount that is paid to you depends upon what type of policy you have taken out.

When I was offered long term disability in my past job my premium was based on what percentage of my income I wanted to receive should I become disabled. I could pay to receive up to eighty percent of my salary. The interesting thing about long term disability is that the younger you take out the policy the cheaper the rate is, and it will not go up.

The rate you originally take the policy out as is the rate that you pay for as long as you carry the policy. Because of this I have encouraged my children to take out long term disability insurance as soon as they begin working. They will have the safe guard of having an income, without having high premiums.

Many people feel that it is not necessary to have long term disability insurance because there is the social security disability program. Social security disability can be very time consuming to get. Some claims can take as long as three years to process and during that time there is no income coming in. You can still apply for social security disability if you have long term disability insurance.

The nice thing is that you have an income coming in while the social security claim is being filed. Also you have the documentation from the doctors already gathered. We all pay a great deal for insurance premiums, however not having the insurance can lead to bankruptcy in a very short time.


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Posted on on May 16th, 2008 in Types of Insurance | 1 Comment »

Short term disability Insurance


We all hope that we remain healthy for our families but there are things that can happen both at work and during our personal time. Accidents are often the cause of disability but things like progressive medical conditions can also lead to problems. You’ll be aware that there are things that may help you cover your finances at least to some extent with a long term or permanent disability. But many people don’t think about things that can happen that lead to a short term disability. If something were to happen, do you know how you are going to pay the bills? (more…)

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Posted on on May 12th, 2008 in Types of Insurance, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »