Disability market snapshots: DIonDemand, Unum and more

Steenerson timed the announcement of the launch of the new site to coincide with Disability Insurance Awareness Month.

In other awareness month news:

• ReWalk Robotics Ltd. says a customer in Cambridge, Minn., has received insurance reimbursement for the purchase of a ReWalk 6.0 Personal System exoskeleton. The customer, Jackson Larson, is paralyzed from the waist down. He is using the ReWalk exoskeleton to increase his ability to get around.

• Unum Group Corp. (NYSE:UNM) has published a disability insurance claim trend update. The company says the number of long-term disability (LTD) insurance claims it gets that are linked to musculoskeletal disorders has increased 33 percent in the last decade, and that the percentage linked to joint disorders has increased 22 percent. Unum says an uptick in obesity rates seems to be responsible for much of the increase.

• Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE:HIG), which recently renewed its sponsorship agreement with U.S. Paralympics, an organization that works with athletes with physical disabilities, released a report based on a recent return-to-work perceptions survey. Hartford found that 26 percent of the 1,000 survey participants said they think of depression as a physical disability. Perhaps more surprising, only 77 percent said they think being a paraplegic or quadriplegic qualifies as having a physical disability. The survey team also found that about 10 percent of participants were reluctant to try to return to their existing jobs full time if they became disabled, and 5 percent of Millennials said they would not want to try to be physically fit if they became disabled.

• The Ruderman Family Foundation is taking nominations for the Ruderman Best in Business Award program. The program honors businesses that show they employ people with disabilities, train and support the employees, and work to maximize the abilities of employees with disabilities. Nominations are due May 25.

See also: 

Disability Insurance Awareness Month starts Monday

7 time-tested disability insurance sales tips

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