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After being on claim for several years, a former Credit and Collections Manager contacted our firm for help exploring her options with her future disability benefits. She was unable to work due to severe peripheral vision loss known as Retinitis Pigmentosa, a condition that rendered her legally blind.

You’re working at your job in Arizona and suddenly a physical or mental condition prevents you from carrying out the duties of your position. Fortunately, you have a long-term disability (LTD) insurance policy that you either acquired at work or obtained from a private broker.

According to a survey by the Council of Disability Awareness (CDA), only two percent or less of today’s workers believe they have a chance of being disabled and unable to work for more than three months during their career. In fact, for someone entering the workforce today, the odds of sustaining such a disability is actually 25 percent.

Many of the most prominent disability insurers who provide both types of policies include Hartford, Unum, MetLife, Cigna, and Lincoln National. There are differences, however, between employer-sponsored and private policies when it comes to the claims and appeals process, as well as tax implications.

Due to a physical or mental condition that prevents you from working, you’re receiving monthly benefits from a long-term disability (LTD) policy you purchased at work or on your own.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), about one-third of U.S. employers offer their employees access to a long-term disability (LTD) policy.

According to the Council for Disability Awareness, a young 20-something just entering the workforce after high school, college, military service, or vocational training stands a one-in-four chance of facing a disability that will prevent them from working for more than a year.

According to the Council for Disability Awareness, one in four of today’s 20-year-olds will become disabled before they retire. More than 37 million Americans, or about 12 percent, are classified as disabled, with more than half of them still in their working years, 18-64.

Statistics show that 25% of today’s 20-year-olds will be out of work for an entire year at some point in life. Even with these odds, some 51 million working adults in the U.S. are without disability insurance.

One in every four 20-year-olds today can expect to be out of work for at least a year due to a disabling condition before they reach retirement age. Even worse, consumer bankruptcy studies have shown that 77.8% of all filings are because of medical bills that got out of hand.