Disability insurance statistics

Disability Insurance Statistics

Need for Protection Emotional impact versus insurance protection for various events.

A disability can happen to anyone...at any time.

In the last 10 minutes, 490 Americans became disabled.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2010 Ed.
In 2008, there were 2.1 million disabling injuries caused by a motor vehicle accident; there were 39,000 fatal motor vehicle accidents.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2010 Ed.
In the U.S., a disabling injury occurs every 1 second, a fatal injury occurs every 4 minutes.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2010 Ed.
In the home a fatal injury occurs every 12 minutes and a disabling injury every 3 seconds.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2008 Ed.
There is a death caused by a motor vehicle crash every 12 minutes; there is a disabling injury every 13 seconds.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2008 Ed.
The probability of a white-collar worker becoming disabled for 90 days or longer between the ages of 35 and 65 is 27% for men and 31% for women.
- Millman, sponsored by Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE), "The Real Risk of Disability in the United States", 2007 (http://www.lifehappens.org/pdf/Real-Risk-of-Disability-paper-FINAL.pdf)
43% of all people age 40 will have a long-term disability event prior to age 65.
- JHA Disability Fact Book, 2008
51.2 million Americans have some level of disability. They represent 18% of the population.
- U.S. Census Bureau, July, 2006
The number of disabled workers in America has risen by 35% since 2000.
- Social Security Administration, 2007
Almost 3 in 10 workers entering the workforce today will become disabled before retirement.
- Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet, January 31, 2007
In 2007, the employment rate of working-age people with disabilities in the U.S. was 36.9%.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007
A new Harvard University report reveals that 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies filed in the U.S. in 2007 were due to an inability to pay for medical expenses.
- June 4, 2009. The American Journal of Medicine
Unfortunately, most Americans have little understanding of the likelihood of experiencing a disability. A recent CDA survey of workers found:
- 90 percent underestimate their own chances of becoming disabled.
- 85 percent express little or no concern that they might suffer a disability lasting three months or longer.
- 56 percent do not realize that the chances of becoming disabled have risen over the past five years.
  - Council for Disability Awareness, 2007 Disability Awareness Survey

Retirement Protection and American Savings Patterns Most Americans can't afford to become disabled.

A new study that surveyed 1,900 Americans found:
- 50% of Americans said they "certainly would not" or "probably would not" be able to come up with $2,000 in the event of an unanticipated event, such as an unexpected medical bill.
- The majority said they would have to rely on more than one method to come up with the emergency funds.
In 2007, the median income of households that include any working-age people with disabilities in the U.S. was $38,400.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007
Over 70% of working Americans do not have enough savings to meet short-term emergencies.
- National Investment Watch Survey, A.G. Edwards Inc., 2004
Over 50% of the workforce has no private pension coverage and a third have no retirement savings.
- Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet 2007
71% of American employees live from paycheck to paycheck.
- American Payroll Association, "Getting Paid in America" Survey, 2008
Only 40% of adult Americans have separate emergency savings funds.
- National survey commissioned by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and carried out by Opinion Research Corporation, February 2007
More than 35% of workers with 401(k) or IRA plans have not thought about or don't know what would happen to their contributions if they were unable to earn an income for a period of time.
- Council for Disability Awareness, 2007 Disability Survey

Causes of Disability Illnesses generally cause disabilities, not accidents.

90% of disabilities are caused by illnesses.
- JHA Disability Fact Book, 2008 Edition
Over 85% of disabling accidents and illnesses are not work related.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2008 Ed.
While many people think that disabilities are typically caused by freak accidents, the majority of long-term absences are actually due to illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease.
- Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education November, 2005
For insured men and women in their prime working years (30-59), the medical conditions causing the most disabilities are cardiovascular problems, musculoskeletal conditions and cancer. One notable exception is the impact of pregnancy on female disability risk. Among women ages 30-39, disabilities due to pregnancy (mostly complications of pregnancy) are the most prominent claim type.
- Millman, sponsored by Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE), "The Real Risk of Disability in the United States", 2007 (http://www.lifehappens.org/pdf/Real-Risk-of-Disability-paper-FINAL.pdf)
Stroke is a leading cause of serious long–term disability.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007
Common causes of individual disability insurance claims are:

Disability Duration An average disability may last longer than you think.

In 2008, the majority of Principal Life's individual disability claims had been active for 5-10 years. The effects of a disability are mostly long-term:

Duration% of Active Claims10+ years21.10%5 to 10 years30.20%2 to 5 years17.90%2 years16.20%1 year or less12.70%
The average duration of a long-term disability is 30 months.
- JHA Disability Fact Book, 2006
Nearly 1 in 5 Americans will become disabled for 1 year or more before the age of 65.
- Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education. November 2005
Three out of 10 workers between the ages of 25 and 65 will experience an accident or illness that keeps them out of work for 3 months or longer.
- Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet, January 31, 2007
Nearly 1 in 3 Americans ages 35-65 will become disabled for more than 90 days
- 2005 Field Guide to Estate Planning, Business Planning & Employee Benefits, by Donald Cady

Disability Costs Indirect and direct costs of a disability take financial tolls on everyone.

49% of workers would have difficulty supporting themselves within one month of becoming disabled.
- The Disability Survey conducted by Kelton Research on behalf of the LIFE Foundation, April 2009
One work-related disabling injury costs an employer on average $48,000.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2010 Ed.
Off-the-job injuries to workers cost the nation at least $253.3 billion and 225 million days of production time in 2008.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2010 Ed.
The average disability absence results in payments of $3,800, while lost productivity costs on average over $22,800.
- Integrated Benefits Institute, IBI News September 8th, 2006
Employers spend 4.1% of payroll on unscheduled absences.
- Marsh/Mercer Health & Benefits, "Health, Productivity and Absence Management Programs", 2006 Survey report
In 2006, unscheduled absence cost some large employers an estimated $850,000 per year in direct payroll.
- CCH and Harris Interactive, "2006 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey," October 2006
Disabling injuries and illnesses account for 55% of employee absences.
- JHA 2005 Absence Management Survey, "Big-picture benefits: Integrating FMLA and disability claims data helps reduce absenteeism," by Chris Silva, September 2006
Just 10% of disability cases account for more than half the total medical and disability costs.
- Integrated Benefits Institute, IBI News September 8th, 2008

Misconceptions Common back-up plans to loss of income may not be an option.

At its current state, the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund is projected to exhaust by 2018.
- "A Summary of the 2011 Annual Reports." The US Social Security Administration. 2011. Web. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/oact/trsum/index.html.
Nearly three-fourths of disabling injuries in 2008 are not work related, and therefore not covered by workers' compensation.
- National Safety Council®, Injury Facts® 2010 Ed.
Less than half - 35% - of the 2.8 million workers who applied for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits in 2009 were approved.
- Social Security Online, disabled worker beneficiary statistics, ssa.gov
The average monthly SSDI benefit is $1,064.
- Social Security Administration, Monthly Statistical Snapshot, December 2009, ssa.gov
Comparison of Social Security disability insurance applications to the amount approved

In 2007, the percentage of working-age people with disabilities receiving SSDI payments in the US was 17.1%.
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007
Over 6.8 million workers are receiving SSDI benefits, almost half are under age 50. This represents only 13% of the over 51 million Americans classified as disabled.
- Social Security Administration, Fact Sheet 2007

Market OpportunityThere is a need for disability insurance.

Workers' rankings of the most valuable activities to achieve long-term financial security:

40% of employees indicated protecting financial assets due to an unexpected event as a main concern.
- The Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM, First Quarter 2009
68% of employees surveyed said good employee benefits encourage them to work harder and perform better; 61% said good benefits keep them working for their current employer.
- The Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM, 2010
Fewer than one in three (29%) U.S. workers have private long-term disability coverage
- National Compensation Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006
33% of workers have access to long-term disability insurance through their jobs.
- Employee Benefits Survey, The Bureau of Labor statistics, March 2009
Only 30% of American workers in private industry currently have access to employer-sponsored long-term disability insurance coverage.
- National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 2006.
The odds of selling a product to a new customer are 15 percent, while the odds of selling to an existing customer are 50 percent.
- Raymond Adamson, Cross-Sell to Success, Advisor Today, March 2005
The top reason producers are not selling IDI is because their clients do not ask about the product.
- LIMRA International, "Producer Perspectives on Individual Disability Insurance", 2009
Despite the fact that more than 70% of American households rely on two incomes to make ends meet, only 26% of Americans have any type of disability insurance.
- Facts from LIMRA May 2010 Multimedia Fact Sheet, based on findings from LIMRA's life insurance consumer studies.
Only 18% of consumers recall being approached about buying disability insurance - less than half as many as those being approached for life insurance.
- Facts from LIMRA May 2010 Multimedia Fact Sheet, based on findings from LIMRA's life insurance consumer studies.
Only 13% of small business owners have disability income insurance.
- Facts from LIMRA May 2010 Multimedia Fact Sheet, based on findings from LIMRA's life insurance consumer studies.
Who buys disability insurance? While men represent the majority of new sales, sales to females grew at a slightly faster rate than sales to males in 2008.
Older age groups bought more policies in 2008, with an increase in both the 50-59 and 60+ age groups.
- Facts from LIMRA May 2010 Multimedia Fact Sheet, based on findings from LIMRA's life insurance consumer studies.

Education-Related There is a clear need for more information and education about solutions that are available to help during a disability.

From the CDA 2009 Worker Disability Planning and Preparedness Study:
- Only one in three workers surveyed associate financial planning with protecting assets and income (38%), tax planning (33%), or saving for a home purchase (32%).
- Nearly nine in ten workers surveyed believe that people should plan in their 20s or 30s in case an income limiting disability should occur (86%). Only half of all workers have actually planned for this possibility (50%), and only half have even discussed disability planning (46%).
- When surveyed what is most valuable in helping them achieve long-term financial security, far more workers rank their ability to earn a living as number one (53%) than assets such as retirement savings (17%), other savings and investments (12%), their home (12%), medical insurance (5%), or personal possessions (1%).
- The large majority of workers are concerned about how they would pay their living expenses if they were disabled (82%), yet most are not prepared if such a disability were to extend for any significant length of time. Seven in ten could cover their expenses for six months or less.
66% of executives surveyed believe that providing financial advice at the workplace is more important than it was a year ago
- Charles Schwab & Co. June 2009
76% of employed baby boomers and 68% of employed Generation Y workers say that the employer is among the most reliable sources of information about benefits.
- Harris Interactive Survey 2008
Only 5% of baby boomers realize they have a 34% chance of becoming disabled during their working years.
- Harris Interactive/AHIP, Baby Boomers' Awareness of Disability Risks, February 2008
45% of employees feel not at all knowledgeable about individually owned disability insurance.
- Principal Well-Being Index, 1QTR 2009
14% of employees personally own a disability income insurance policy on themselves, a significant decrease from 1st quarter 2008 when 18% reported owning such a policy. Only 7% of employees' spouses own a disability income insurance policy.
- Principal Well-Being Index, 1QTR 2009

Business-Related There is a need for disability insurance solutions for businesses.

The U.S. had 5.8 million small business employers in 2009, representing over 99 percent of the nation’s employers.
- Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2010.
In 2009, outstanding small business loans (under $1 million) were valued at over $685.4 billion for more than 23 million loans.
- Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2010.
Half of business owners do not have any disability plans in place for either themselves or their key employees (50%).
- The Principal Financial Group Business Priorities Market Research, January 2009
Nearly three quarters of business owners indicated that they or their key employees are limited in the amount they are allowed to contribute to their qualified retirement plan (73%). Yet, very few business owners offer supplemental retirement plans (83% do not offer any plans) that can help overcome this limitation.
- The Principal Financial Group Business Priorities Market Research, January 2009
About 43% of wealthy business owners (almost double the percentage of other affluent Americans questioned) said they would work to age 70 or later, but only one-third of these owners said they have written succession plans in place.
- Private Wealth magazine, April-May 2008; survey by PNC Wealth Management, Philadelphia, PA