by LAS
Wouldn't we all love to be assured of full income replacement if we were disabled, either short term or long term? Well, unfortunately Americans cannot get that kind of coverage, at least not if they live in the United States.
I viewed the film Sicko again and there was so much covered in there, that it was difficult to sort out all the issues. But one of the issues apart from those related to health insurance was the matter of disability insurance.
Here in the United States, one cannot get more than about 60 or 65 percent income replacement through a disability policy, whether from a private policy or through the federal government's SSI program. It is felt that people should not profit by getting injured or disabled. Well, they should not be forced to choose between rent and food, or rent and medications -- and so many of those on disability rely on several medications just to get through the day.
Tony Benn was quoted in Sicko as saying that choice depends on freedom to choose, and if you are shackled with debt, then one does not have the freedom to choose. I might add that if you are shackled with healthcare bills beyond your ability to pay, then you do not have choice or the freedom to choose, either.
But in France, the law requires that disabled people receive full pay while on disability. The government pays 65 percent, and your employer pays 35 percent. Sicko related the story of a Frenchman who was too exhausted after a course of chemo to go back to work right away, so his doctor gave him a note for a three-month leave. So the guy goes on vacation, soaks up some sun and recoups his old energy, and voila, he's a new man again.
So if you should be so lucky as to work for the French office of an American corporation, you could reap the best of both worlds. American pay with French social security -- real social security, not just a retirement check that won't cover rent, but retirement, healthcare, disability, full maternity coverage, and more.
I have read that recent years have found the French hard-pressed to pay for rising expenses even in a system that pays its doctors well but not extravagantly. Perhaps they will have to cut the less necessary fringe items like paying for vacations, or for college beyond the first two years, or or home services for new mothers.
But I sure hope that the French maintain their militant insistence that even foreign corporations have to obey French labor laws. Someone has to keep the corporations in line. And if the French will do the job, then more power to them.
Showing posts with label disability insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disability insurance. Show all posts
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Declined for Disability Insurance? Common reasons why, and what to do
by L.A.S.
The most common reasons for being declined for a disability insurance policy are:
1. Age
2. Dangerous occupation (often this includes building trades like electrician or roofer)
3. Employee of the U.S. Government
4. Income (too low or too high)
5. Lack of U.S. citizenship or green card.
6. New business or occupation (lack of actuarial data)
7. Overall poor health
8. Overweight, occasionally severely underweight people may be denied also)
9. Work or travel in foreign countries.
10. Works out of one's home.
In addition, the fact of having a dangerous hobby can cost you any kind of life or health insurance. A hobby of flying a plane is most often cited in insurance courses.
Common Diseases or Conditions that Cause Denial of Disability or Long-term Care Policies:
1. Asthma
2. Arthritis
3. Alcoholism or Drug Abuse
4. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
5. Cancer
6. Crohn's Disease
7. Diabetes
8. Epilepsy
9. Heart Attack
10. Hypertension, especially if you take multiple medications
11. Lupus
12. Mental Disorders
13. Multiple Sclerosis (BTW, Minnesota has a statistically high incidence of M.S., and so dread disease policies exclude it in the list of conditions covered by the policy)
14. Overweight
15. Respiratory Diseases such as emphysema
16. Sleep Apnea
What kinds of strategies or limitations might you have to accept in order to get any type of disability insurance?
1. An exclusion for conditions related to the reason for the denial. Example: exclude injuries related to on-the-job accident/injury if the reason for denial was that you are in a dangerous occupation. This would still cover you for off-duty injuries or illnesses.
2. A longer elimination period (the wait between an injury or illness and the time you may first draw benefits).
3. A shorter benefit period. Perhaps you only have six years between now and planned retirement at age 65; you could structure a policy to stop when you turn 65.
4. A smaller benefit. To me, this is the least satisfactory option because almost all disability insurances pay you a maximum of 65 percent of your regular income anyway. (And that is based on your base pay, not your paycheck with all overtime and bonuses included.) You may as well just stash away as much cash as possible for a rainy day.
5. OR all of the above.
But just because you have accepted an exclusion for your occupation does not mean that you can never collect on an on-the-job injury. You may be able to prove that an accident causing a broken back, for example, would have incapacitated even a person with a healthy back. So the fact that you declared a back problem when buying the policy may not affect the legitimacy of your claim.
This is just a few things to think about when considering buying disability insurance or finding some other strategy for replacing lost income when you are laid up -- or laid off.
The most common reasons for being declined for a disability insurance policy are:
1. Age
2. Dangerous occupation (often this includes building trades like electrician or roofer)
3. Employee of the U.S. Government
4. Income (too low or too high)
5. Lack of U.S. citizenship or green card.
6. New business or occupation (lack of actuarial data)
7. Overall poor health
8. Overweight, occasionally severely underweight people may be denied also)
9. Work or travel in foreign countries.
10. Works out of one's home.
In addition, the fact of having a dangerous hobby can cost you any kind of life or health insurance. A hobby of flying a plane is most often cited in insurance courses.
Common Diseases or Conditions that Cause Denial of Disability or Long-term Care Policies:
1. Asthma
2. Arthritis
3. Alcoholism or Drug Abuse
4. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
5. Cancer
6. Crohn's Disease
7. Diabetes
8. Epilepsy
9. Heart Attack
10. Hypertension, especially if you take multiple medications
11. Lupus
12. Mental Disorders
13. Multiple Sclerosis (BTW, Minnesota has a statistically high incidence of M.S., and so dread disease policies exclude it in the list of conditions covered by the policy)
14. Overweight
15. Respiratory Diseases such as emphysema
16. Sleep Apnea
What kinds of strategies or limitations might you have to accept in order to get any type of disability insurance?
1. An exclusion for conditions related to the reason for the denial. Example: exclude injuries related to on-the-job accident/injury if the reason for denial was that you are in a dangerous occupation. This would still cover you for off-duty injuries or illnesses.
2. A longer elimination period (the wait between an injury or illness and the time you may first draw benefits).
3. A shorter benefit period. Perhaps you only have six years between now and planned retirement at age 65; you could structure a policy to stop when you turn 65.
4. A smaller benefit. To me, this is the least satisfactory option because almost all disability insurances pay you a maximum of 65 percent of your regular income anyway. (And that is based on your base pay, not your paycheck with all overtime and bonuses included.) You may as well just stash away as much cash as possible for a rainy day.
5. OR all of the above.
But just because you have accepted an exclusion for your occupation does not mean that you can never collect on an on-the-job injury. You may be able to prove that an accident causing a broken back, for example, would have incapacitated even a person with a healthy back. So the fact that you declared a back problem when buying the policy may not affect the legitimacy of your claim.
This is just a few things to think about when considering buying disability insurance or finding some other strategy for replacing lost income when you are laid up -- or laid off.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Summer is the Time for Disabling Injuries
by L.A.S.
More disabling injuries occur during the summer than any other time of the year, according to a study by The Hartford insurance company's research department.
Accident claims were lowest, in general, in the fall of the year. They climb slightly in the winter quarter and begin to soar in the spring. Summer is by far the busiest period for accident claims, and the most common type of injury was the fracture for both men and women.
The most common injuries for men were: open wounds, internal injuries, sprained joints (shoulder, leg, knee, arm), and fractures (skull, neck, back). The most common injuries for women were: Fractures of lower limb, sprained neck or back, and dislocated knees.
Taking a look at different regions of the country provided some puzzling results. One might expect that skiing accidents would be the main cause of accident claims out West, but winter and fall both had very low accident rates compared to a rising slope for spring and summer accident rates. The Northeast had this pattern of accident rates, going from highest to lowest accident rates: summer, winter, spring, fall. I suppose that people drove themselves too hard in summer sports, and fell on the ice in the winter.
But Midwesterners had virtually the same accident rate for winter as for spring. Fall had the fewest accidents, while summer again was significantly higher; in fact, Midwesterners had the highest rate of summer accidents of all the four regions. The South had the fewest accidents in the winter of all regions, but nearly tied with the West in high spring accident rates, and was second-highest in summer accident rates.
But the main question is: how many months could you go without having any income? How soon would you have to make lifestyle changes if you or your spouse lost their income? Almost all respondents said they would have to change their lifestyle if they or their spouses lost income for three to six months. Only 41 percent had short-term disability insurance, and only 36 percent had long-term disability insurance.
A caveat: disability insurances only pay about 60 percent of your pre-disability income, so plan accordingly. Also, that 60 percent is based on your BASE salary, not including whatever overtime or bonuses you have been earning. Have a reserve fund for emergencies, and/or a source of income that keeps coming in regardless of whether you can get out the door or not.
More disabling injuries occur during the summer than any other time of the year, according to a study by The Hartford insurance company's research department.
Accident claims were lowest, in general, in the fall of the year. They climb slightly in the winter quarter and begin to soar in the spring. Summer is by far the busiest period for accident claims, and the most common type of injury was the fracture for both men and women.
The most common injuries for men were: open wounds, internal injuries, sprained joints (shoulder, leg, knee, arm), and fractures (skull, neck, back). The most common injuries for women were: Fractures of lower limb, sprained neck or back, and dislocated knees.
Taking a look at different regions of the country provided some puzzling results. One might expect that skiing accidents would be the main cause of accident claims out West, but winter and fall both had very low accident rates compared to a rising slope for spring and summer accident rates. The Northeast had this pattern of accident rates, going from highest to lowest accident rates: summer, winter, spring, fall. I suppose that people drove themselves too hard in summer sports, and fell on the ice in the winter.
But Midwesterners had virtually the same accident rate for winter as for spring. Fall had the fewest accidents, while summer again was significantly higher; in fact, Midwesterners had the highest rate of summer accidents of all the four regions. The South had the fewest accidents in the winter of all regions, but nearly tied with the West in high spring accident rates, and was second-highest in summer accident rates.
But the main question is: how many months could you go without having any income? How soon would you have to make lifestyle changes if you or your spouse lost their income? Almost all respondents said they would have to change their lifestyle if they or their spouses lost income for three to six months. Only 41 percent had short-term disability insurance, and only 36 percent had long-term disability insurance.
A caveat: disability insurances only pay about 60 percent of your pre-disability income, so plan accordingly. Also, that 60 percent is based on your BASE salary, not including whatever overtime or bonuses you have been earning. Have a reserve fund for emergencies, and/or a source of income that keeps coming in regardless of whether you can get out the door or not.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Erosion in Savings Helped Create Larger Numbers of UNDERinsured; Critical Illness Insurance Expected to Grow as People Seek to Fill the Gaps
While the growth in the numbers of uninsured Americans continues to garner the headlines (and the attention of political pundits), the growth in numbers of underinsured has been very similar but unheralded.
Consider the case of the “typical” family with an individual deductible of $2600 and a family deductible of $4800 or more. How is a family that is struggling to keep up with jumps in costs for food and fuel going to cover that cost if serious illness hits a member of the family?
Those high deductible plans can be devastating to a family if a wage earner is hit with a catastrophic injury or illness. The general rule of thumb is that if your deductible is more than 5% of your annual income -- you are underinsured! And this is a conservative definition.
This means that the need for critical illness insurance policies is probably higher now than ever before. A good critical illness policy has a lump sum or cap payment of $100K or more, either on diagnosis or paid out as the bills come in. If they are good, they will even pay a moderate amount on experimental drugs. Conventional insurance will pay zero on experimental drugs -- but the critical illness insurance is a different class of product, not bound by the usual restrictions found in a qualified health insurance plan.
Critical illness policies vary on which diseases are covered -- less expensive policies cover only cancer; their underwriting guidelines are usually less demanding, too. Other policies may cover a dozen diagnoses like heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and the like.
Another difference with critical illness policies is that the payment is normally sent directly to the insured, and the insured can spend it either on the medical bills or on anything from food and utilities on up to the mortgage.
Forty percent of Americans do not have three months’ worth of cash on hand to cover basic bills if they are out of work. (from a 2006 bankrate.com survey)
Medical bills in the first few months after a heart attack can reach $25,000 -- some of that is paid by major medical insurance but the patient has to shoulder the rest of the bill.
If you are between the ages of 35 and 50, and have a high deductible plan, you are the type of person who is most vulnerable to a large financial hit from a major medical event. And you are also most likely to HAVE a major medical event like a stroke or heart attack.
Even those with dual incomes totaling over $50,000 a year -- or even $75,000 a year -- report that they have difficulty paying for health insurance and their portion of the healthcare bill. They often do not have any (or sufficient) disability coverage to make up for lost income while recuperating. How many are aware that disability insurance, if you qualify, only pays an average of 60 percent of your normal income?
A soft economy also means that your employer may not keep your job open if you file for disability -- or even lay you off outright.
Consider the case of the “typical” family with an individual deductible of $2600 and a family deductible of $4800 or more. How is a family that is struggling to keep up with jumps in costs for food and fuel going to cover that cost if serious illness hits a member of the family?
Those high deductible plans can be devastating to a family if a wage earner is hit with a catastrophic injury or illness. The general rule of thumb is that if your deductible is more than 5% of your annual income -- you are underinsured! And this is a conservative definition.
This means that the need for critical illness insurance policies is probably higher now than ever before. A good critical illness policy has a lump sum or cap payment of $100K or more, either on diagnosis or paid out as the bills come in. If they are good, they will even pay a moderate amount on experimental drugs. Conventional insurance will pay zero on experimental drugs -- but the critical illness insurance is a different class of product, not bound by the usual restrictions found in a qualified health insurance plan.
Critical illness policies vary on which diseases are covered -- less expensive policies cover only cancer; their underwriting guidelines are usually less demanding, too. Other policies may cover a dozen diagnoses like heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and the like.
Another difference with critical illness policies is that the payment is normally sent directly to the insured, and the insured can spend it either on the medical bills or on anything from food and utilities on up to the mortgage.
Forty percent of Americans do not have three months’ worth of cash on hand to cover basic bills if they are out of work. (from a 2006 bankrate.com survey)
Medical bills in the first few months after a heart attack can reach $25,000 -- some of that is paid by major medical insurance but the patient has to shoulder the rest of the bill.
If you are between the ages of 35 and 50, and have a high deductible plan, you are the type of person who is most vulnerable to a large financial hit from a major medical event. And you are also most likely to HAVE a major medical event like a stroke or heart attack.
Even those with dual incomes totaling over $50,000 a year -- or even $75,000 a year -- report that they have difficulty paying for health insurance and their portion of the healthcare bill. They often do not have any (or sufficient) disability coverage to make up for lost income while recuperating. How many are aware that disability insurance, if you qualify, only pays an average of 60 percent of your normal income?
A soft economy also means that your employer may not keep your job open if you file for disability -- or even lay you off outright.
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