NU Online News Service, April 30, 2:16 p.m. EDT

Most employees do not know anything about group-disability insurance, but when they learn about it, 9 out of 10 employees say they want the coverage and are willing to pay for it, according to a survey released today.

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and employee-benefits insurer Unum released a survey of nearly 1,200 employees asking them about their knowledge and understanding of disability insurance.

The survey found that 13 percent of all employees say they know a lot about this insurance. Less than half of those who say they have coverage know how much it costs, a total of 41 percent and 47 percent know what their benefits are.

When they learned about the plan, 90 percent say they want coverage and 86 percent say they would pay half of a $30 a month premium. More than half, 56 percent, say they would pay the entire premium.

The survey has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percent.

During a press conference today, Stephen Brobeck, CFA's executive director and Thomas R. Watjen, president and chief executive officer of Unum discussed the results and its implications.

Brobeck says workers need better protection of their finances. Statistics show that one-third of people who go out on disability are out of work for injury or illness for three months or more.

He says employees need to be prepared should a long-term illness befall them, but unless they are informed of the benefits available, they will not take advantage of the programs.

Brobeck says small businesses are the least likely to have a program. Seventy-one percent feel the federal government should offer some kind of one-time tax incentive to help small businesses to help create disability-insurance programs.

Brobeck says the survey finds the program most popular among lower-income people who have less access to the program through their insurer. Less than half, 46 percent, of employees with household incomes under $25,000 have access to the coverage, while 80 percent of those with an income of $100,000 or more say their employer offers disability insurance.

However, 72 percent of the lower-income group and 51 percent of the upper-income group say it is important to them to have the coverage, and both are willing to pay for it.

Brobeck also says it would be useful to set-up a standards for these plans, because none exist, and it would give the consumers some point from which to judge individual programs.

Watjen says that having a disability-insurance program can “add an adequate standard of living with the insurance while getting back to work.”

He says adding a disability insurance program would mean workers would be less likely to need public assistance while out of work. But any program starts with awareness, he says.

Watjen says he hopes this survey will begin a dialogue and “help elevate the profile of the topic,”

“Every consumer is vulnerable and should be making this part of their financial plan,” says Watjen.

This story was updated at 2:42 p.m. EDT

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