Understanding Disability Options

We know that disability benefits are a critical part of your employee benefits package, allowing for your staff to take leave at times of sickness and accident. One of the most common "sicknesses" that disability insurance is used for is pregnancy.

Maternity leave is covered as part of short-term disability insurance, and the insurance plans offer 6 weeks off for vaginal births and 8 weeks off for C-section births. Most plans pay 60% of income up to a limit, like $1000 or $1500 weekly, and have a 1-week elimination period, which means that pay is for 5 or 7 weeks. 

Commonly, insurance carriers have a 1 year waiting period for maternity claims for groups with less than 10 employees. We have for many years worked with Principal, Metlife, Guardian and Mutual of Omaha to create benefit packages for small groups. We are thrilled to announce that we are now offering The Hartford, and they do NOT have a 1 year waiting period on maternity claims. That means if you enroll in their plan while you are already pregnant you can still go on claim. There is no waiting period for pregnancy!

Disability claims are processed with a 3 part form - Employer, Employee, and Doctor. All 3 parties fill out their sections of the claim documents and then the claim can be processed. Once all three parts are completed that is where The Insurance People can begin processing your claim! Sometimes the employee and employer sections of the form can be confusing and we can help do it with you. If you are ready to make a claim, let us know, we are happy to help the process go smoothly.

If you'd like to discuss adding on short-term disability to your benefits package, which can be paired with long-term disability, life insurance and more, let's connect!