RealityCheckup.info was created to drive disability insurance awareness. The site is part of a consumer outreach program to educate America’s workforce about the likelihood of missing work due to pregnancy, health issues, or injuries — and the potential financial hardship associated with being out of work as a result. An illness or injury that is not remotely life threatening can have serious and long-lasting financial consequences.
The campaign is spearheaded by The Council for Disability Awareness, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping working adults understand the importance of having alternate sources of income for times when they cannot work due to illness, injury, or pregnancy.
Disability insurance awareness: The numbers are alarming
- More than one out of four people currently entering the workforce can expect to have a disabling condition that puts them out of work for at least 12 months before they reach normal retirement age.1
- At least 50 million working adults in the United States are without disability insurance other than the basic coverage available through Social Security.2
- More than half of Americans don’t have enough savings to cover three months of expenses in the event of income loss. Almost half of Americans couldn’t pay for an unexpected expense of just $400 without having to take out a loan or sell something.3
This means millions of people are at risk of financial hardship if they are out of work. The consequences are very real. A 2014 survey identified medical bills, lost job (for any reason), and illness or injury (involving self or family member, and with or without job loss) as the primary reasons for consumer bankruptcies, with over half of respondents citing one of these three reasons.4
What can be done?
The first goal of this campaign is to encourage people to take the time to consider the reality of missing work — and a paycheck — for any period of time, and to understand that it happens more than any of us would like to think. It isn’t something anyone likes to contemplate, but the risk is real.
The second goal is to help people identify the steps to insure themselves against this possibility. Each individual’s approach and solution will be different, but we want everyone to understand that some form of insurance coverage is a critical part of a responsible financial plan.
This campaign is supported by:
As the nation’s premier disability representation company, Allsup services include Social Security disability representation, veterans disability appeal, return to work, and healthcare benefits services supporting individuals, employers and disability organizations.
American Fidelity offers worksite/voluntary products, including disability, critical illness, accident, and cancer insurance.
Ameritas offers individual disability insurance, and Guaranteed Standard Issue (also known as GSI).
The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America offers individual disability insurance, disability insurance for business owners, and supplemental individual disability insurance. It offers employer-provided short- and long-term disability insurance; worksite and voluntary insurance, including disability insurance; and absence management services, including unpaid and paid leave management.
Illinois Mutual offers disability income insurance (DI) for individuals and business expense DI for small business owners. Additionally, Illinois Mutual offers voluntary worksite products including: accident, critical illness, short term disability, and voluntary short term disability.
Lincoln Financial Group offers employer-provided short- and long-term disability, voluntary benefits and absence management of unpaid and paid leave.
MassMutual offers disability income insurance, group accidental and group critical illness insurance.
For more than 30 years, MDGuidelines has provided quality, dependable clinical decision support. Our health and productivity solutions have been the first choice of leaders seeking guidelines for occupational health since 1991.
MetLife offers individual disability insurance (GSI). The company offers employer-provided short- and long-term disability insurance, and worksite and voluntary insurance, including disability insurance. MetLife offers absence management services, including unpaid and paid leave management; a Disability Health and Wellness Connection, Employee Assistance Program, and Life Insurance Disability Extensions.
MGIS is a national insurance program manager founded in 1969. We partner with select brokers nationwide to provide the disability insurance and specialty coverages doctors expect.
Smith Group is a disability reinsurance risk manager and consultant. Our primary differential advantages are long-term disability insurance expertise, a service-oriented approach, and research and development.
The Claim Lab specializes in data analytics.
The Plus Group is known as “America’s Premier Disability Insurance Marketing Organization.” Formed in 1998, it consists of independent BGAs that deliver training and disability insurance products to insurance agents, employee benefits advisors, brokers, CPAs, financial planners, and other marketing partners. With a focus on personalized service, the member firms lead the industry in disability income sales, training, and education, serving thousands of financial professionals nationwide. For more information, visit The Plus Group.
Unum Group (NYSE: UNM), a leading international provider of workplace benefits and services, has been helping workers and their families thrive for over 175 years. Through its Unum and Colonial Life brands, the company offers disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental, and vision insurance, leave and absence management support, and behavioral health services. The Fortune 500 company is recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere®. Visit the Unum Group newsroom for more information, and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
UnitedHealthcare is the health benefits business of UnitedHealth Group, a health care and well-being company working to help build a modern, high-performing health system through improved access, affordability, outcomes and experiences.
- Social Security Administration, Disability and Death Probability Tables for Insured Workers Born in 1997, Table A.
- American Council of Life Insurers, unpublished data in Assessing Americans’ Financial and Retirement Security, 2017. ACLI found that 54.3 percent of non-retired households (about 51.3 million in total) did not report having disability insurance. Assuming there is at least one adult in each household, this means the number of “uncovered” adults is at least equal to the number of “uncovered” households.
- Federal Reserve, Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2016, page 26.
- Austin, Daniel A., Medical Debt as a Cause of Consumer Bankruptcy (2014). Maine Law Review, Volume 67, No. 1, pp. 1 – 23 (2014); Northeastern University School of Law Research Paper No. 204-2014. Available at SSRN. See especially Table 1.
Ready for more information?
This campaign is spearheaded by The Council for Disability Awareness, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping working adults understand the importance of having alternate sources of income for times when they cannot work due to illness, injury, or pregnancy.
Visit the CDA website:
