Recent News

May 15, 2009

Is Group Disability Insurance Really Necessary?

~ written by Char Sutak, Employee Benefits, Willis HRH

Lost time and medical costs are on the rise. The risk of disability is greater than most employers and employees realize. Consider these recent statistics from UnumProvident & Harris Interactive:

• Disabilities affect one-fifth of Americans (approximately 49.7 million).
• On average, about 2,329 disabling injuries occur every hour during the year.
• A disabling injury occurs every eight seconds at work.
• Odds are as high as one in three employees will miss at least three months of pay due to injury or illness, and once disabled for 90 days, will have an average length of disability of two years.
• Thirty percent of employees age 35 to 65 will become disabled for 90 days at least one time while working.
• Social Security Administration claims that there will be a 37 percent increase in disability insurance incidences because the workforce is getting older.

The likelihood of becoming disabled is increasing for working Americans, while the financial consequences are becoming more severe. For employers, the costs associated with employee absence are rising and the population is aging, which translates into increasing benefit utilization and cost. Beyond that, unscheduled absences disrupt workflow and increase cost and human resource pressures are impacting the ability to dedicate adequate time and attention to lost-time experience.

Your Willis HRH broker can help you determine whether group disability insurance might be the right choice for your law firm.

Char.Sutak@willis.com