17 percent of American families (1 in 6) have at least 1 adult who is disabled from employment (Source: 2000 U.S. Census) 
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82 percent of American workers have inadequate or no disability protection (Source: Consumer Federation of America and American Council of Life Insurers, 2003) READ MORE
Disability Insurance News
July 2005: The Disability Dilemma
Long-term disability is one of the most devastating threats to a family's financial security. An illness or injury can start a downward slide that sweeps almost every asset along with it, according to an article in the July 2005 publication of "Smart Money."[1] A family can lose its main source of income, and then its savings, as it shoulders the often unbearable costs of medical or custodial care.
A recent academic study suggests that disability and related health care costs now account for half of all personal bankruptcies. Even seemingly secure nest eggs are vulnerable to long-term ailments.
Morris Armstrong, a Danbury, Conn., financial planner, estimates that a middle-class family could blow through $50,000 a year in savings if an illness or injury cost them their income. Financially, "disability is worse than death," says Armstrong. "It's an ongoing drain."
Only 28 percent of working Americans have long-term disability insurance, while 48 percent have life insurance. However, the chance of an adult dying before the age of 65 is one in seven, while there's a one in three chance of that adult missing three months or work or more due to illness or injury.
A thoughtful insurance plan can help insulate against life's more common ailments and help prevent tough times from becoming financial catastrophes.
"The families who go bankrupt in the wake of illness look just like other middle-class families," says Elizabeth Warren, Harvard law professor. "They have good educations, decent jobs, homes, kids. But they were less well prepared for a serious bump."
In 1990 roughly 43 million Americans were disabled; now that's grown to 54 million, according to the National Council on Disability.[2]
References
- MacKeen, Dawn. "The Disability Dilemma," Smart Money, July 2005. http://www.disabilitycanhappen.org/docs/SmartMoney_Reprint_102006.pdf
- www.disabilitycanhappen.org