While paid family leave and medical leave, short-term disability, or dbl covers people with a short-term illness or injury not related to work, long-term disability can cover long-term or critical illnesses or injuries that extend past 26 weeks or may even be permanent.
When you hear this about the voluntary benefit you might argue that social security disability insurance, a mandatory program covered through payroll taxes and the federal government, fills that role, but long-term disability offers so much more than our country SSDI program.
Long-term disability offers “same occupation” coverage and no waiting periods for claims.
Why You Need Long-Term Disability If You Have SSDI!
A private long-term disability policy often called disability income (DI) offers many benefits over the government – subsidized SSDI coverage. These advantages include:
Higher maximum benefit amounts
Shorter waiting periods than social security
“Same occupation” coverage
Personalized service
Better Benefits
In 2024, the maximum SSDI benefit is $3,822, calculated based on the worker’s average lifetime earnings. Most workers receive an average of just $1,537 per month in SSDI.
You probably already know the cost of living in your area and how most people are struggling to keep up with inflation today.
But to really hammer the point home: the median mortgage payment for new applicants across the US in March 2024 was $2,201 (*mortgage bankers association). If a worker on disability collects $1,537 per month, there’s a good chance they can’t pay their mortgage, not mention put food on the table or pay any other bills.
Long-term disability offers maximum benefits from $2,000 up to $15,00 per month, or more. If you also qualify for SSDI, you can collect these benefits concurrently.
Shorter Waiting Periods - Long-Term Disability Picks Up Where Short-Term Disability or Paid Family Medical Leave Leaves Off
Most long-term disability policies by preferred network of carriers have a waiting period of 180 days. In some cases, executives may have waiting periods as short as 60 to 90 days.
If you make a short-term disability claim and it looks like your disability may persist past 26 weeks, you can file a long-term disability claim immediately once your short-term benefits run out, your long-term disability policy will kick in.
When you file an SSDI claim, you will have to wait at least six months to start receiving benefits. It might take up to 12 months from the time you apply to gain approval.
Same Occupation Coverage
When you file for SSDI benefits, you must prove that you cannot work in your chosen field, performing the same work you did before your disability, and also that you cannot adapt to new work because of your condition.
Additionally, your illness must be chronic and expected to last at least one year, or terminal and result in death.
Personalized Service
If you’ve ever dealt with government offices, you know there can be long wait times for phone calls. When a company or individual puts long-term disability coverage through one of our preferred carriers, you can be assured of top-notch customer service by phone, online. You also have the backing of your broker Susan Wiener Enterprises, LLC, and our general agency The DBL Center -- offering white-glove, back-office staff to assist in guiding you through the claims process.
Why C – Level Executives Want Long-Term Disability Insurance
C-level executives presumably have other forms of income, often in the form of investments and emergency savings. But if they can accrue income in the event of a long-term disability or illness at an exceptionally low rate paid for with pre-tax dollars they can leave their investment savings in accounts to grow.
If you are interested in hearing more about what can be done with long-term disability, please reach out to us at Susan Wiener Enterprises, LLC – phone 631-385-9602 or email: susanw@swenys.com
**information originated from Dawn Allcot and The DBL Center
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