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Long-term disability insurance (LTD) is a critical but often misunderstood aspect of financial planning. It provides a safety net in case you become unable to work due to a disability, ensuring that you can continue to meet your financial obligations and maintain your quality of life. In this blog, we will answer some of the top questions people have about long-term disability insurance, shedding light on its importance and how it can benefit you.

What’s the difference between short-term and long-term disability insurance?

Short-term disability insurance typically covers disabilities that last for a few months, providing benefits that kick in quickly to replace a portion of your income.

Long-term disability insurance is designed for more extended periods of disability, covering you for several years or even until retirement if necessary. Long-term disability insurance offers more comprehensive coverage, ensuring you have financial support over the long haul.

What’s the difference between long-term disability and long-term care insurance?

Long-term disability insurance replaces your income if you’re unable to work due to a disability.

Long-term care includes services that meet the medical and non-medical needs of people with disabilities, chronic illnesses, or cognitive disorders who can’t care for themselves. Long-term care insurance covers the cost associated with this type of care for an extended period of time, at home or in a long-term care facility.

Both types of insurance serve different purposes and should be considered separately in your financial plan.

Won’t social security and workers’ compensation cover my needs?

Social Security disability benefits and workers’ compensation can provide some financial support in the event of a disability, but they have limitations. Social Security disability benefits often have strict eligibility criteria and may not replace your full income. Workers’ compensation only covers disabilities resulting from work-related injuries or illnesses. Long-term disability insurance offers broader coverage by providing a benefit when you are unable to work due to a covered disability, regardless if the disability is work-related or not.

How much coverage will I need?

Factors to consider include your monthly expenses, existing savings, and any other sources of income. Calculating the appropriate coverage amount ensures you’ll have the financial support you need without overextending your budget.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when calculating coverage:

1. Assess Your Existing Financial Resources: Start with your income, and take into account any existing disability benefits you may have, such as employer-sponsored disability insurance, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), or personal savings. These resources will reduce the amount of coverage you need.
2. Determine Your Monthly Expenses: Start by listing all your monthly expenses, including rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, transportation, insurance premiums, and discretionary spending. Be as comprehensive as possible.
3. Consider the Benefit Period: Decide how long you want your disability insurance to provide benefits. Common benefit periods are 2 years, 5 years, or until age 65. Longer benefit periods typically require higher premiums.
4. Determine the Benefit Amount: Disability insurance typically replaces a percentage of your pre-disability income. This percentage can vary, but it’s often around 60-80% of your pre-disability earnings. Use this percentage to calculate the benefit amount.

Don’t forget to account for taxes. Remember that disability insurance benefits may be taxable depending on whether you pay the premiums with pre-tax or post-tax dollars. Adjust your calculations accordingly and be sure to consider how inflation can affect your expenses over time.

Everyone’s financial situation and insurance needs are unique, so it’s important to personalize your calculations based on your individual circumstances and preferences. You should also be aware of policy exclusions, as certain conditions may not be covered, and consider how these exclusions could affect your overall coverage. A professional insurance agent or broker can also help you navigate these exclusions.

Why do young people need long-term disability insurance?

Many young individuals underestimate the importance of long-term disability insurance. However, disabilities can strike at any age, and statistics show that disability incidence among younger demographics is more common than you might think. One in four of today’s 20-year-olds will become disabled before retirement age.

Enrolling in disability insurance early not only protects your future income but also typically results in lower premiums. Investing in your financial security while you’re young can provide peace of mind for years to come.

How does the application process work?

The application process for long-term disability insurance involves several steps. Once you’ve researched and chosen a policy, you or your insurance agent or broker will complete an application. Here is some information that may be required:

• Personal information such as name, date of birth, contact details.
• Employment information, including current occupation and employer.
• Income details, including gross annual income and any other income sources.
• Medical history, like current health status, present and past medical conditions, medications, surgical history, etc.
• Information about lifestyle, such as smoking and alcohol consumption.
• Financial information, like mortgage, rent and other debts.
• Additional documentation may be required.

It’s essential to be thorough and accurate in your application to avoid potential delays in the process. Once your application is submitted, the process can take two to six weeks, depending on the benefit amount selected and the complexity of your personal situation. Sometimes, the carrier may require you to get a medical examination or provide additional healthcare records so medical underwriting can be completed.

Once any documentation or requirements are met, the next step is review and approval or denial of your application, followed by a policy issuance if approved.

Conclusion

Long-term disability insurance is a critical component of financial planning, providing essential protection in the event of a disability. By obtaining LTD coverage, you can ensure that you’re prepared for the unexpected and can maintain financial stability in challenging times.

Visit the long-term disability insurance page to view instant quotes and apply online.

After living in the shadow of the global COVID pandemic for more than two years, the world is ready to move on, but the virus continues to show that it isn’t ready to leave us just yet.

According to Worldometer, nearly 480 million people have contracted the virus and recovered. But what this number doesn’t show are the millions of people who have recovered yet are still experiencing the long-term effects of the virus.

What is Long COVID?

Long COVID can occur in anyone previously diagnosed with the virus, regardless of severity. According to a recent study of nearly 2 million people diagnosed with COVID-19, 23% of participants continued to show at least one symptom of the virus for more than 30 days after their initial diagnoses.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that “people with post-COVID conditions can have a wide range of symptoms that can last more than four weeks or even months after infection. Sometimes the symptoms can even go away or come back again.” The CDC lists the official symptoms for Long COVID as follows:

• Tiredness or fatigue that interferes with daily life
• Symptoms that get worse after physical or mental effort (also known as “post-exertional malaise”)
• Fever
• Respiratory and heart issues
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Cough
• Chest pain
• Heart palpitations
• Difficulty thinking or concentrating
• Headache
• Sleep problems
• Lightheadedness
• Pins-and-needles feelings
• Change in smell or taste
• Depression or anxiety
• Digestive issues
• Diarrhea
• Stomach pain
• Joint or muscle pain
• Rash
• Changes in menstrual cycles

Is Long COVID a disability?

In July 2021 the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services jointly published guidance on how Long COVID can be a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If Long COVID symptoms are substantially limiting your major life activities, you should begin documenting your symptoms, compiling relevant medical records, and looking into which resources are available — as you may be eligible for disability benefits.

What is long-term disability insurance?

Long-term disability insurance helps provide a monthly income if you become disabled due to a covered accident or illness. This coverage can help pay credit card bills, mortgages, college tuition, and more if you’re unable to work because of a disability.

As an AOA member, you already have access to group long-term disability insurance. For details including eligibility requirements visit our long-term disability page to learn more.

Throughout the history of civilization, there have always been things that we did not understand— things that we believed to be real but couldn’t see. Faith, love— even germs all spring to mind though we may not have always had a scientific name for them.

While the human race has come a long way from our earliest beginnings, the simple truth is that science is ever-evolving and new things are discovered every day. Just as today we may laugh at some of the ancestral medical practices of the middle ages, our descendants may one day do the same to us.

The same could also be said for the discovery and further understanding and treatment of ailments previously attributed to an imbalance of the four humors or even demons.

The New Science On Invisible Disabilities

Most recently there has been a renewed focus on debilitating illnesses and diseases that may not always visible to the naked eye or even some advanced diagnostic testing techniques available to doctors and hospitals throughout the world. These ailments have been given the term invisible disabilities.

According to the Invisible Disabilities Association, in simple terms, an invisible disability is considered to be a physical, mental, or neurological condition that limits one’s mobility or senses to the point where they severely impact the individual’s everyday life and activities. Unlike other disabilities, invisible disabilities are imperceptible to onlookers and therefore can sometimes lead to misunderstandings, false perceptions, and judgment.

For example, according to the American Physical Therapy Association, “Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has come a long way since the 1980s when it was widely dismissed as ‘yuppie flu’ and was suspected by many health care providers of being a psychological rather than a physiological condition.” To date, there is no definitive test for CFS and it is instead considered to be diagnosed by exclusion.

Another well-known illness for which there is no definitive test to confirm its existence is fibromyalgia. The reigning Queen of Pop (disagree, if you dare) Lady Gaga, has (very publicly) brought the topic of fibromyalgia front and center in the media. Gaga, born Stefani Germanotta, has struggled with the illness for years, and though invisible— she has chosen to bravely document her struggle with its debilitating effects in the recent Netflix documentary Five Foot Two and has even been forced to cancel a number of shows on her Joanne tour due to the incredible debilitating pain associated with the illness.

Mental illnesses such as individuals who struggle with depression, anxiety, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, and more are also considered to have an invisible disability (if the symptoms they experience are severe enough); however, in these cases there are often more definitive ways of testing and diagnosing cases.

In addition to those previously listed, below are a number of other known invisible disabilities. Please note that though extensive, this is in no way to be considered a complete list of possible invisible disabilities.

• Allergies
• Arachnoiditis
• Asperger Syndrome
• Asthma
• Autism
• Brain injuries
• Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Chronic pain
• Circadian rhythm sleep disorders
• Coeliac Disease
• Crohn’s disease
• Diabetes
• Ehlers Danlos Syndrome
• Endometriosis
• Epilepsy
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
• Food allergies
• Fructose malabsorption
• Hereditary Fructose Intolerance
• Hyperhidrosis
• Hypoglycemia
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Interstitial cystitis
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Lactose Intolerance
• Lupus
• Lyme Disease
• Metabolic syndrome
• Migraines
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
• Myasthenia Gravis
• Narcolepsy
• Personality disorders
• Primary immunodeficiency
• Psychiatric disabilities
• Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
• Repetitive stress injuries
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Schnitzler’s Syndrome
• Schizophrenia
• Scleroderma
• Sjogren’s syndrome
• Spinal Disorders
• Temporomandibular joint disorder
• Transverse Myelitis
• Ulcerative Colitis

Testing The Odds

According to Disabled World, it is estimated that approximately ten percent of Americans have been diagnosed with a medical condition that could be labeled as an invisible disability. “Ninety-six percent of people with chronic medical conditions live with a condition that is invisible. These people do not use a cane or any assistive device and act as if they didn’t have a medical condition. About twenty-five percent of them have some type of activity limitation, ranging from mild to severe; the remaining seventy-five percent are not disabled by their chronic conditions.”

It has been estimated by the National Council on Disability that one out of every four Americans will be diagnosed with a long-term disability within their working careers. Could your family afford for you to be out of work for an extended period of time while you recover?

If you wish to receive more information about how you can safeguard your financial future in the event you are diagnosed with a long-term disability, please visit the disability insurance page for an instant quote, or schedule an appointment with one of our licensed benefits counselors.