Close Close
Sign In
Newsletters
Popular Financial Topics Discover relevant content from across the suite of ALM legal publications From the Industry More content from ThinkAdvisor and select sponsors Investment Advisor Issue Gallery Read digital editions of Investment Advisor Magazine Tax Facts Get clear, current, and reliable answers to pressing tax questions
Luminaries Awards
Podcast Center Video Center Webcasts Resource Center Events
About ThinkAdvisor Contact Us Advertise With Us Asset & Logo Licensing Sitemap Terms of Service Privacy Policy Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
ThinkAdvisor
Someone using a wheelchair

Life Health > Health Insurance

Few Young Adults Know What Disability Insurance Is

By Allison Bell

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

A majority of U.S. adults know nothing about private disability insurance, according to results from a new online disability insurance literacy survey commissioned by Policygenius, a web broker that helps people get quotes for individual disability insurance online.

The participants were 2,353 U.S. adults ages 18 and older.

An outside survey firm presented a multiple choice question with descriptions for private disability insurance, major medical insurance, the government’s Social Security disability insurance program, accident insurance and several other types of arrangements.

Just 36% of the survey participants gave the correct answer and showed that they understand that the product provides income for a person who has become disabled, not a lump-sum payment when someone suffers an injury, full payment for medical bills or something else.

What it means: If you have failed to discuss disability insurance with your clients, because you do not sell it or fear the clients will not be able to qualify for disability insurance, chances are that they will have no idea that private disability insurance exists or how Social Security disability insurance works.

Disability: About 5% of U.S. workers experience a disability of six or fewer months each year, and about 25% of 20-year-olds will be out of the workforce for at least one year before they reach age 65 because of a disability, according to the Council for Disability Income Awareness.

Survey results: Older participants did better than younger participants, and higher-income participants outperformed lower-income participants, but no group performed especially well.

Broken out by the share of participants who could identify the private disability insurance was 22% for the 18-34 age group and 48% for the 55-and-older age group.

Broken out by income, the share who got the question right ranged from 30% for people in the $40,000-and-under category to 44% for people in the $80,000-and-over category.

Credit: Adobe Stock

Allison Bell

Think_Allison

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.