Fishers and related fisher workers
Logging workers
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers
Structural iron and steel workers
Farmers and ranchers
Roofers
Electrical power-line installers and repairers
Drivers/sales workers and truck drivers
Refuse and recyclable material collectors
Police and sheriff’s patrol officers
This list does not reflect the actual number of deaths-”for example, the occupation with the highest actual number of fatalities was “Drivers/sales workers and truck drivers” with 908 deaths in 2007.

Do you have the life insurance protection you need?
It’s a fact that some occupations are riskier than others. But no matter what you do for a living, take a look at your life insurance needs. Life insurance can help you financially protect your loved ones after you die. If you’re single, and no one is depending upon your income for support, you may not need life insurance. But if any of the following is true, consider buying life insurance:

You’re married and your spouse depends on your income
You have children
You have an aging parent or disabled relative who depends on your income
Your retirement savings, pension, or other cash accounts won’t adequately support your loved ones after you die
You have a large estate and expect to owe estate taxes
You own a business
You’d like to donate life insurance proceeds to a charity or school
Calculators and worksheets are available to help you determine how much life insurance you need. You may want to contact an insurance agent or broker who can help you determine what type of life insurance is best for you and the amount of coverage you need.

Do you have the disability insurance you need?
If you work in a high-risk occupation, you probably know how important it is to have disability insurance coverage. But don’t rely on government programs such as Social Security and workers compensation as your main source of protection. In reality, government programs pay only limited benefits under restrictive terms (e.g. you must meet a strict definition of disability to qualify).

Your employer may offer group disability insurance at low or no cost to you. This coverage is called Accidental Death & Dismemberment Coverage. But you may also want to consider purchasing an individual disability insurance policy. Although you’ll pay more for individual coverage than for a group policy, you often get more benefits. And keep in mind that if you leave your job or otherwise terminate your relationship with a group, you can’t take your disability policy with you, and you usually can’t convert it to an individual disability policy. This means that you may be left without disability coverage when you need it most.

Shop around for coverage
Since many different types of life and disability policies are available, it’s important to shop around for coverage to find a life insurance policy that meets your individual needs. Since premium costs vary widely, get quotes from several insurance companies. Just make sure you’re comparing policies that offer similar benefits.

[Let Insurance.com help you find affordable life insurance now.]

As an applicant for life insurance, you’ll be placed in a risk category, such as “Preferred” or “Standard,” along with a subcategory of “No Nicotine” that indicates whether or not you have smoked or use nicotine.

Rates for “Preferred, No Nicotine” will be lower than “Preferred, Nicotine” despite the current health of the applicant, because of the higher long-term risk of illness or death due to smoking-related diseases.

Are you considered a smoker?
The questions about smoking and tobacco use are very specific when you apply for life insurance. A typical application will ask, “Have you used a tobacco product in the last twelve months?” You’ll need to explain whether you use cigarettes, cigars or even chewing tobacco. Most importantly, you must state how often you use each tobacco product.

Whether you smoke several cigarettes a day or half a pack, you are a smoker and should answer the questions completely and honestly. But, here’s the thing. If you only have a cigarette once a month when you’re having a beer, you’re still considered a smoker by most life insurers. The health risks are basically the same for occasional smokers – and the rates are often the same as well. However, cigar smokers who light up 3 or 4 times a year often get a break and are classified as non-smokers. From a life insurance standpoint, the celebratory cigar does not make you a “smoker” in the true sense of the word.

To tell the truth
During the life insurance application and underwriting process, you may be required to get a medical examination to verify your health. Depending on the company and the type of insurance you purchase, the exam may include blood and urine tests as well as a full check-up.

Can a smoker “cheat” the system? Your body generally rids itself of nicotine within 72 hours. So, if the blood test and urine sample are given 72 hours after you last smoked, the nicotine level may be low enough to escape detection, but know that companies are looking for a negative reading for nicotine – not just a low level. If you’ve submitted your application as a non-smoker and have a positive result for nicotine, your company can raise the rate or choose not to issue a policy.

What happens if you are caught?
If you’re a smoker and you don’t tell the truth on an application, you can be charged with insurance fraud. In addition, if your insurer makes the discovery while investigating a claim that’s made after your death, they could contest the validity of your policy contract – and deny the claim for benefits based on your misrepresentation of the facts. If they discover your lie during the 2 year contestability period, they might choose to cancel the policy, if they don’t offer policies to smokers.

What if you start smoking again after the policy is issued?
It is important to be truthful when filling out your life insurance policy, but if you start smoking after it’s issued, you are not required to tell your insurance company. If you die, and your life insurance premium was based on the nonsmoker rate, and you later began smoking, your death benefit will not be jeopardized. However, it’s important to note again that if your cause of death is found to be a smoking-related illness, your beneficiary could have problems when making a claim.

Why? Because every life insurance company will take your physical build into consideration when determining the cost of your insurance.

The reasoning is pretty straightforward. Obesity is clearly linked to serious health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, some types of cancer, sleep apnea, gallbladder disease and more. These conditions not only present a risk to those that are obese, but to life insurance underwriters as well. Though an overweight person might be otherwise healthy, his increased risk of developing a more serious health condition because of his obesity translates into a similar financial risk for the insurance company offering life insurance quotes.

It’s An Epidemic
Obesity is an epidemic in the United States. More than 34 percent of the U.S. population is considered obese, according to data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 66 percent of the population is overweight. Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. Those with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 are considered overweight. BMI is calculated from a person’s weight and height and provides a reasonable indicator of body fatness and weight categories that may lead to health problems. You can calculate your BMI through the CDC.

This epidemic is what has caused concern in the life insurance industry – and has translated into higher premiums for those who are overweight and obese. “The increasing prevalence of obesity is too significant for the life insurance industry to ignore,” reads a Swiss Re study. The report analyzed the impact of obesity on mortality trends, identifying the implications of the obesity epidemic on the pricing and underwriting of life insurance products. Swiss Re is a leading global reinsurer that focuses on risk transfer, risk retention finance and asset management.

The study concludes that “the life insurance industry must tackle issues associated with increases in obesity by ensuring that the related risks are accurately assessed and rated, and that consumers are charged an appropriate premium to reflect the risk they present.”

You Can Still Get Insurance
If you are rejected by a life insurance company because of your weight, there are companies that will insure you.

These companies will offer a graded death benefit policy, which is a death payment that increases with the age of an insured. In other words, the longer you live, the more money paid out to your beneficiaries.

These, too, can be expensive. You can ask for a lower death benefit to make the premium more affordable, but you trade off the amount of money that your beneficiary will receive.

Paying More than Life Insurance Premiums
It’s not just higher life insurance premiums that will hit the pocket book of those that are obese and overweight. Many will pay more in direct health costs, according to the CDC, like preventive, diagnostic and treatment services. And as a nation, we’re all paying more in medical costs – to the tune of nearly $100 billion annually – because of this epidemic.

Then there are other things, like paying more for health insurance and even being asked to purchase a second seat on an airplane. There’s even a growing trend for emergency medical transport companies to charge obese people more for ambulance service.

Save Money, Get Healthy
If you want to ensure you’re getting the best life insurance quotes when you shop for life insurance, then it’s time to get healthy.

Remember that losing weight isn’t the job of a crash diet or exercise alone. It’s a combination of the two and more. It’s a life-long lifestyle change that includes healthy eating, regular physical activity, and a balance of calories consumed versus calories used. Those that lose weight slowly – about 1 to 2 pounds a week – are more successful at keeping the weight off, according to the CDC.

The benefits of a healthy lifestyle – beyond the best life insurance quotes and premiums – include improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugars, as well as lower risk for many of the health conditions listed at the top of this article. Participants in the National Weight Control Registry even reported improvements in energy levels, physical mobility, general mood and self-confidence.

Gallup’s annual survey on health and health care found that men are self-reporting they weigh 196 pounds on average and women are reporting they weigh 160 pounds on average. And no one lies when self-reporting their weight, right? A separate Gallup poll found that 35.8 percent of Americans were overweight and 25.8 percent were obese — adding up to 61.6 percent — based on body mass index, or BMI, calculations that use height and weight for a number that correlates with the amount of body fat.

Figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention echo the poll results. Of adults age 20 and over, 33.9 percent are obese, and 34.4 percent are overweight, but not obese.

Drop and give me 20: shed pounds, spur insurance savings

Losing that extra 20 pounds can result in a lower life insurance quote that could save you a few hundred dollars per year, according to an Insurance.com analysis.

“Extra weight does come into play and could increase the premium that you pay, and at some point extreme obesity would prevent you from getting any coverage at all,” says Edward E. Graves, an associate professor of insurance at The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Some companies offer strong incentives for losing weight. Kaiser Permanente Colorado offers adults up to $150 every three months for losing weight and keeping it off under the Weigh and Win program.

But the best incentive could come from your life insurance company. If the money saved in life insurance premiums by losing weight was put aside, it could help pay for the policy.

Insurance.com’s analysis of life insurance quotes based on weight found some savings for a $1 million, 20-year term policy, and for a $1 million whole life insurance policy. Quotes are based on a man and woman, both age 37, and of average heights for their gender. The average height in the U.S. for men ages 20 and older is 5 feet 8 inches, according to the CDC. For women ages 20 and over, the average height is 5 feet 3 inches.:

For a man who weighs 200 pounds, the term life insurance is $889 per year but drops to $670 if he loses 20 to 40 pounds, a savings of $219 a year.
A whole life insurance policy for the same man and the same amount of coverage would drop from $5,761 at 200 pounds to $5,031 at 180 pounds to 160 pounds, a lifetime savings of $730.
For a woman weighing 180 pounds, the term policy is $758 a year. That drops to $569 if she loses 20 to 40 pounds, an annual savings of $189.
The same woman could get a whole life policy for $4,686 at 180 pounds, but it would drop to $4,159 if she lost 20 to 40 pounds, a savings of $527.
The best time to buy life insurance when considering weight loss

Graves says, however, that there’s a difference between a potential policyholder applying for a life insurance policy at a lower weight, and an existing policyholder asking for a rate change after losing some weight. Many companies won’t consider the latter request, just as they won’t increase rates if a policyholder gains weight, he says.

The best strategy would be to lose the extra weight before applying for a life insurance policy, says Graves. Being 40 pounds overweight will likely result in higher rates, and every insurer will have higher rates for people 70 pounds or more overweight, he says.

Weight is one of a dozen factors insurers will use to determine life insurance quotes, and underwriters of permanent or whole life policies have more leeway to give breaks for an extra 10 pounds of weight loss, says Tony Steuer, a licensed Individual life and disability insurance analyst in California.

For thinner people seeking lower rates, providing proof can be as easy as having an examiner bringing a scale to their home, or the insurance company checking their medical records, Steuer says.

But you may face problems if your weight changes every time you apply for a policy change, or if a dramatic weight loss from dieting is unsustainable, he says. For someone who plans to lose weight, getting a five- or 10-year life insurance plan now, and then updating to another plan when they lose the weight is a good idea if they follow through, Steuer says.

“The danger there is something else occurs health-wise, or they don’t lose the weight, and they don’t have the coverage they need,” he says.

Losing weight could lead to a less expensive classification by the life insurance company, but getting older in the time it takes to lose it could make up the difference in savings you get from being thinner, says Mark Bermudez, marketing supervisor at Life and Annuity Masters in Simi Valley, Calif.

And health insurance coverage can vary widely, depending on your employer and your policy. “It’s not like an appendectomy,” says Dr. Douglas Hadley, director of the policy coverage unit at Cigna.

Because of the huge variations in coverage, the best thing you can do is pick up the phone and call your insurer to learn the details of what’s included in your particular policy. “Learn to be your own best advocate,” says Mindy Berkson, an infertility consultant at Lotus Blossom Consulting in Chicago.

But before you start, have a list of specific questions you’d like answered, and then be prepared to take copious notes when you receive a reply. “The answers you get are only as good as the questions you ask,” Berkson says.

Here are some of the key questions you should keep in mind.

Does my state mandate infertility treatment coverage?

Of the 15 states with infertility treatment mandates, there are major variations in coverage, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and West Virginia all mandate some type of coverage.

Although most of those states require that insurance coverage include in vitro fertilization (IVF), California, New York and Louisiana specifically exclude it.

There also may be exemptions if the law conflicts with the religious beliefs of an employer. For example, in Maryland, an insurer or employer may exclude the coverage if it conflicts with the religious beliefs and practices of a religious organization and the religious organization requests the exclusion, according to the NCSL.

Another example of an exclusion in a mandated state – again in Maryland – are regulations that became effective in 1994 that exempt businesses with 50 or fewer employees from having to provide IVF coverage.

Does my health insurance policy cover diagnostic testing ?

A standard series of tests has been developed for males and females to determine why they can’t conceive, and your health plan should detail which tests are included, Hadley says. Most health insurance policies cover the diagnostic phase.

Based on the results, a treatment plan is drawn up, Berkson says. Some insurance policies just cover the diagnostic testing to try to determine the root cause of infertility, but don’t include coverage for treatment. “It’s so unfair,” says Berkson.

What treatments are covered by my health insurance policy?

This can be the big stumbling block in fertility treatment. Hadley says the differences among policies are huge — ranging from no treatment coverage to assisted reproductive technology, where eggs are removed from a woman, fertilized and then placed in the womb.

Berkson recommends getting your fertility treatment billing center involved to discuss the billing coding with your insurer. That way, you can make sure your health insurance covers the treatment recommended for you.

Things can change from year to year. Cigna, for example, has a team that reviews emerging technologies and decides whether to include them in its coverage if they are deemed safe and effective as compared to the treatments already in place, Hadley says. “It’s very much of an evolving science.”

Infertility treatment may carry hefty prices. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine says the average cost of an IVF cycle is $12,400.

What kind of treatment limits are there with my policy?

If treatment is covered by your policy, you may face limits, such as being allowed only a certain number of IVF attempts. Or, you may have a financial limit, such as $25,000 for any standard treatment.

There also might be limits based on your age, or set by your employer. Even in a state where treatment is mandated, such as Rhode Island, the age limit for infertility treatment is capped at 42.

An insurer also may not cover more attempts if you’ve had one successful live birth, Berkson says.

What medications are covered by my policy?

This is another instance where it’s important to know the coverage limits. RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association says IVF medications average $3,000 to $5,000 per cycle.

Certain drugs may be excluded, or there may be payment caps or co-pays, Hadley says.

You also may have to order your medications through an online pharmacy, Berkson says.

Once you know the answers to these questions, you’ll be better prepared to make a decision as to how — or whether — to proceed.

You need to keep in mind “there could be a lot of out-of-pocket expenses, even with insurance coverage,” Hadley says.

Most long-term policies cover a wide range of services in a variety of settings, including nursing homes, assisted living communities, adult day care programs, care centers for those with Alzheimer’s disease and your own home.

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), which publishes the price index, analyzes what you pay for the most popular policies offered by 10 insurance companies. The average cost this year for a 55-year-old single individual who qualifies for preferred health discounts is $1,720 for benefits of $165,000 to $200,000. The same coverage last year would cost, on average, $1,480.

Low interest rates and low yields on fixed-income investments are fueling the higher rates, Jesse Slome, AALTCI executive director, said in a press statement. Forty percent to 60 percent of the dollars an insurer accumulates to pay future claims comes from investment returns, according to the AALTCI.

In addition to rising rates, the survey this year reports a wider gap between the lowest-cost and highest-cost policy. For a 55-year-old single policy applicant, the highest-priced policy costs almost 80 percent more than the lowest-priced policy, according to the press statement.

The association recommends comparison shopping for insurance quotes, as policy prices for some categories vary by as much as 132 percent and no single company always has the lowest or the highest rate.

Long-term care insurance policies include limits on coverage. There might be a cap on how much the policy will pay out over your lifetime and how much it will pay per day or per month for care. Some policies also limit the number of years they pay for long-term care. Typical time periods are two, three, four and five years.

3 key considerations when buying long-term care insurance

1. Buy early, save later. Policies vary widely in cost and coverage levels. The premium is based on the type and amount of services you want covered, your age and health condition when you buy the policy, and optional benefits, such as inflation protection. For that reason, it’s prudent to purchase coverage when you are younger, and, typically, more healthy.

2. Tax deductions. The federal government offers tax incentives for purchasing long-term care to encourage people to plan for their needs as they age. Each year, the IRS increases the federal deductibility limits to keep up with inflation, while some states also offer long-term care insurance tax incentives.

You can count long-term care insurance premiums as medical expenses and can deduct them if all your medical expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.

The amount you can deduct for long-term care insurance rises with age. For instance, 2011 and 2012 federal tax deduction limits for individuals are as follows, according to IRS Revenue Procedure 2011-52 :

Age 40 and younger: $340 for 2011; $350 for 2012
Age 70 and older: $4,240 for 2011; $4,370 for 2012
3. Combo-pack policies. You can also buy a policy that folds life insurance into your long-term care insurance. The policies provide long-term care benefits and pay out a death benefit to life insurance beneficiaries if not all of the long-term care coverage is used.

Most employer-sponsored health insurance plans do cover pregnancy, thanks to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. The law requires work-based health plans to cover pregnancy-related expenses just as they cover other medical conditions. But the law does not apply to companies with fewer than 15 employees. Unless mandated by state law, an employer with just a few workers on the payroll could provide health insurance that doesn’t cover pregnancy.

For employers with at least 15 employees, the level of coverage for pregnancy depends on the coverage for other medical conditions, says Danielle Garrett, a health policy analyst with the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, D.C. Under the law, those employers’ health plans must cover pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions on the same basis they cover other medical conditions. So if a plan covers the cost of a private room for other conditions, it has to cover the cost of a private room for pregnancy-related conditions. If it covers office visits to physicians, then it must cover prenatal and postnatal visits.

Employer-sponsored group coverage is by far the main source of decent pregnancy coverage. Finding maternity coverage in the individual health insurance market is tough. Just 13 percent of individual health plans available to a 30-year-old woman across the country provided maternity coverage in 2009, according to the most recent figures from the National Women’s Law Center.

2. Refuse to kick your bad health habits? You might have to pay more.

“Employers are telling workers, ‘You need to be accountable for your health,’” says Julie Stone, a senior consultant with Towers Watson, a global consulting firm.

Some take the carrot approach. More than two-thirds of large employers offer incentives to encourage employees to take care of themselves, according to the 2012 Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health “Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care.” Often the reward is a discount on the worker’s portion of the premium.

But a growing number of employers are picking up the stick. Twenty percent penalize employees for bad habits, like smoking. Ten percent reward or penalize employees depending on how the rate in specific health measures, such as weight or cholesterol, and 23 percent of employers plan to do so in 2013. (See related story “Take care or pay a higher share of your health insurance.”)

3. You could be excluded from the insurance plan.

Your employer doesn’t have to offer health insurance to everybody. And it can provide different levels of benefits to different groups of workers, as long as there’s a clear differentiation between the groups, says Lenny Sanicola a senior practice leader of benefits for WorldatWork, a human resources nonprofit headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz. Among the most common differentiators for coverage is whether you work full time or part time.

4. The health insurance plan doesn’t have to cover your family.

Most companies that offer health insurance extend benefits to dependents, but they don’t have to, Sanicola says.

Among those who do offer coverage to workers’ spouses and kids, a growing number are subsidizing less of the premium for the dependents, Sanicola adds.

Meanwhile, some employers have special rules for spouses who have other coverage available. According to a 2011 survey of large employers by Mercer, 7 percent imposed a surcharge, and another 7 percent did not provide coverage at all to spouses who had coverage through their own jobs.

5. The employer doesn’t have to pick up the tab for the premium.

Fortunately, most employers that offer coverage do pay most of the premium. But it’s not your imagination if you think you’re paying a growing share.

Employees will pay an average $2,764 of health care costs in 2012, a 9.3 percent jump from 2011, according to the Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health survey. That’s up 40 percent from just five years ago.

Still, even though they’re paying more, most employees remain unaware of the total cost of health insurance coverage, Sanicola says.

“It isn’t until quitting a job and getting a bill for family coverage for $12,000 a month that your eyes are opened,” he says.

The average total health care cost per employee, including the worker and company share of the health insurance premium, is expected to reach $11,664 this year, up 5.9 percent from 2011, according to Towers Watson.

Here are six steps for winning an appeal:

1. Find out why the health insurance claim was denied

The insurance company should send you an explanation of benefits form that states how much the insurer paid or why it denied the claim.

Call the insurer if you don’t understand the explanation, says Katalin Goencz, director of MedBillsAssist, a claims assistance company in Stamford, Conn.

If it’s a simple error, the insurer might offer to straighten it out. But double check to make sure your insurer follows through, Goencz says.

“Get the name of the person you spoke to, the date, the reference number for the phone call, and put it on your calendar to check back with the company in 30 days,” she says.

2. Read your health insurance policy

Understand exactly what is covered under your policy and how co-pays are handled. Health insurance plans differ. For example, find out if you have an HMO or a PPO. Usually the health insurer includes a summary of benefits online, but you should read the policy itself, says Rebecca Stephenson, president and CEO of VersaClaim, a claims assistance and patient advocacy business in Austin, Texas.

“This is not a document you store in the attic with your old tax records,” she says. “It needs to be close at hand.”

Can’t find it? Ask the employee benefits department or your broker for a copy.

3. Learn the deadlines for appealing your health insurance claim denial

Read your health plan and learn the rules for filing an appeal.

“You want to know how under the gun you are,” Stephenson says.

If it’s a complex case and you’re concerned about meeting the deadline, send a letter stating you’re appealing the denial and will send further information later, Stephenson says.

4. Make your case

Gather documentation to back up your argument. Sometimes the problem stems from something as simple as a billing mistake by a doctor’s office.

Stephenson tells of one client whose health insurance company denied a claim for surgery because her deviated septum was named as the diagnosis. The insurer did not cover surgeries for a deviated septum.

But she was also diagnosed with acute purulent sinusitis — the real reason for the surgery, which was never communicated to the insurance company.

Stephenson had the client submit copies of her medical reports, X-rays and a letter from the physician confirming the sinusitis diagnosis. The patient won.

5. Write a concise appeal letter

When you write an appeal letter, be sure to include your address, name, insurance identification number, date of birth for the person whose claim was denied, date the services were provided and the health insurance claim number, Goencz says.

“The first sentence should state that you are appealing the claim denial, and the body of the letter should explain why the medical bills should be paid,” Goencz says. “Put in a closing sentence demanding payment, and include supporting documentation.”

Save emotional rants for understanding friends, and stick to the facts.

“[Insurers] don’t want to know about your grief and how sick you’ve been,” Stephenson says.

Send by certified mail to get notification that the packet was received, she adds.

6. If you lose, try again

“If you lost your first appeal, you’ve got to step back and look at why the health insurer is saying no,” Stephenson says. “What other information do you need to give them to state your case?”

Then, follow the health plan’s procedures for filing a second appeal.

If you exhaust the appeal process and are still unsatisfied, you can take the case to the state department of insurance, unless your coverage is through an employer that is self-insured. In that case, your next stop is the U.S. Department of Labor, although both Goencz and Stephenson say getting federal officials to act is a long shot.

[Let Insurance.com help you find affordable health insurance now.]

Policies vary widely in cost and coverage levels. The premium is based on the type and amount of services you want covered, your age and health condition when you buy the policy and optional benefits, such as inflation protection.

Long-term care insurance policies include limits on coverage. There might be a cap on how much the policy will pay out over your lifetime and how much it will pay per day or per month for care. Some policies also limit the number of years they pay for long-term care. Typical time periods are two, three, four and five years.

How long-term care insurance has changed

Policies issued a generation ago typically paid for nursing home care. Today, most policies are comprehensive and cover a wide range of services in a variety of settings, including nursing homes, assisted living communities, adult day care centers, Alzheimer’s special care centers and your own home. As coverage has expanded, prices have increased. For help in understanding how to get the best coverage at the lowest price read our article Tips for buying long-term care insurance amid rising rates.

You can also choose from a variety of riders – or, add-on benefits – such as inflation protection, which allows the value of coverage to increase with inflation. The cost of an inflation protection rider is built into the premium from the beginning.

Many policies also pay for services and equipment to help you live at home, such as electronic monitoring systems, wheelchair ramps, transportation to medical appointments, and training for a friend or relative to provide care.

Some policies even provide payment to family members or friends who care for you, according to the National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information. Another common benefit pays for the service of a care coordinator, who meets with you and then arranges for and monitors care.

Another way to plan for long-term care expenses is through a policy that combines life insurance with long-term care insurance. The popularity of these policies has taken off in recent years, with sales growing 62 percent in 2010, according to LIMRA, a global life insurance research and consulting firm. The policies provide long-term care benefits and pay out a death benefit to life insurance beneficiaries if not all of the long-term care coverage is used.

Find disability insurance quotes now.

A look at the odds
Statistically, your risk of being disabled is great. In a given year, the following events occur with the following frequency:

Event Frequency
Home fire 1 out of every 88 homes
Serious auto accident 1 out of every 70 autos
Death 1 out of every 106 people
Disability 1 out of every 8 people

A further look at disability statistics reveals the following:

A 30-year-old man has a one in five chance of suffering a long-term disability before his planned retirement.
A 30-year-old woman has a one in three chance of suffering a long-term disability before her planned retirement.
Roughly 50 percent of people who suffer disabilities lasting longer than six months remain disabled after five years.
Heart disease and back problems are the two most common causes of disability.
More people lose their homes through disability than through fire or death.
One in seven employees will be disabled for five years or more before retirement
As these statistics show, your chances of being disabled for longer than three months are much greater than your chances of dying prematurely. One reason for this is that medicine has found ways of treating many illnesses and injuries that previously would have been fatal. Although this is good news, it increases your need to protect your income with disability insurance.

Of course, statistics can be misleading. You might never become disabled, especially if you’re healthy and work in a low-risk occupation. But then again, how many people do you know who have had cancer or have suffered a heart attack? How many of your friends and family members have been in car accidents or have had back problems? Illness, as well as injury, is disabling. If you were hurt or got sick, how would you support yourself or your family?

What would happen if you became disabled?
What would happen if you suffered an injury or illness and couldn’t work for days, months, or even years? If you’re single, you may have no other means of support. If you’re married, you may be able to rely on your spouse for income, but you probably also have many financial obligations, such as supporting your children and paying your mortgage. Could your spouse really support you and your family? In addition, remember that you don’t have to be working in a hazardous occupation to need disability insurance; accidents happen not only on the job but also at home, and illness can strike anyone. For these reasons, everyone who works and earns a living should consider purchasing disability insurance.

But isn’t disability coverage through an employer or the government enough?
You might think that you are adequately insured against disability because you have coverage through your employer or through government programs such as Social Security and workers’ compensation. However, only 50 percent of employers cover short-term disability, and only 40 percent cover long-term disability. Government programs may pay you benefits, but only if you meet a strict definition of disability. Here’s an idea of the benefits you may already have, as well as their limitations:

Social Security
Although you shouldn’t overlook the disability benefits you may be eligible to receive from Social Security, you shouldn’t rely on them either. Social Security denies more than 50 percent of the claims submitted, in part due to its strict definition of disability. Even if you are deemed eligible for benefits, you still won’t begin receiving them until at least six months after you become disabled because Social Security imposes a waiting period. In addition, your benefit may replace only a fraction of your pre-disability income.
Workers’ compensation
If you’re injured at work or get sick from job-related causes, you may receive some disability benefits from workers’ compensation insurance. How much you receive depends on the state you live in. However, when you review your disability insurance needs, remember that workers’ compensation only pays benefits if your disability is work-related, so it offers only limited disability protection. Some states also cover only the diseases or disabilities outlined in that state’s workers’ compensation laws.
Pension plans
Some government and private pension plans pay disability benefits. Often these plans pay benefits based on total, permanent disability, or reduce your retirement benefit in proportion to what you have already received for a disability. In addition, remember that these benefits are usually integrated with Social Security or workers’ compensation, so your benefit may be less than you expect if you also receive disability income from these government sources.