Needs for Disability

When most people hear the word “disability” they automatically think of wheel chairs, or someone being stuck in bed with a spinal injury.  While this type of event is indeed disabling, there are other less visible causes of disability that should be considered when seeking an Idaho Falls disability insurance plan.  Perhaps we should change the wording to “sick or hurt and unable to work”.

No one expects a serious injury or illness to strike, but disability can happen to anyone at any time. Disabilities are not usually the result of an accident. The four most common causes of existing long-term disability claims in 2012 were:

• musculoskeletal system and connective tissue diseases (30.7%)
• nervous system and sense organs diseases (14.2%)
• circulatory system diseases (12.1%)
• cancer (9.0%)

Medicine has made great strides in helping us to outlive conditions that in times past would have proven to be fatal.  We have a “good news/bad news” scenario playing out.  The good news is that people are living longer, the bad news is that diseases which used to cause death are now leaving us disabled. This is food for thought a you consider an Idaho Falls disability insurance plan from Eagle Cap Insurance.  Our disability insurance agency in Idaho Falls and Preston can help as you contemplate this and other questions.

According to a 1999 study by the National Center for Health Statistics, deaths due to hypertension are down 73%, but disabilities due to the same are up 70%. Deaths due to heart diseases have decreased by 29%, but disabilities caused by the same are up 44%. If the statistics for hypertension, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and diabetes are combined, deaths have decreased by 32%, but disabilities have increased 55%. Additionally, the number of disability claims for stress and depression is up considerably.

If the potential for losing your ability to work is so significant, should we not act to protect ourselves against the economic consequences of it? 

Are you a gambler?

If you were to go to Las Vegas and the odds of winning were one in three, would you play? From the chart below you will see that the odds of “winning” when it comes to becoming disabled are about that. The chart illustrates that an individual’s chances of disability are 2 to 3 times greater than death during their working years.

Are other options enough?

If you have group long-term disability insurance through your employer, that’s a valuable foundation and a good start. But income from group long-term disability insurance is taxable and is sometimes not enough. Individual disability income insurance fills in the gaps. And you own the policy. It’s yours to keep whether you change employers or not.

You don’t hesitate to insure your home, your car or other valuables, so why wouldn’t you protect your income with disability insurance? Think of it as insurance for your paycheck.

With disability income insurance in place, should the “unthinkable” happen and/or you become very sick or hurt and cannot work for an extended period of time, you would receive monthly payments to pay your bills and continue to pay your bills and continue to live.

If you are interest in knowing more about Macro Economic Planning and how to coordinate your financial decision with a finite amount of money, contact Eagle Cap Insurance for a free disability insurance consultation at our Idaho Falls or Preston office.