CDA: Disability Rates Continue to Climb

The 2008 Long-Term Disability Claims Review conducted by the Council for Disability Awareness (CDA) reveals a surge in the number of American wage earners requesting and receiving long-term disability payments.

The CDA's FourthAnnual Long-Term Disability Claims Review analyzes private and public long-term disability claims data and identifies continuing and emerging disability trends among U.S. workers. Fifteen CDA member companies, representing more than 75 percent of the commercial disability insurance marketplace, submitted proprietary claim data for inclusion in this year's study. The Claims Review found that CDA member companies made nearly $8 billion in ongoing disability insurance payments to disabled individuals in 2008. CDA member companies approved long-term disability insurance benefits for 156,000 new individuals.

In addition to these private payouts, applications for the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program continued to surge in 2008. SSDI benefit applications increased 5.9 percent to 2.3 million in 2008 -- the highest ever. The program paid 7.4 million disabled workers a total of $91.3 billion in 2008 -- a 4.6 percent increase over payments made in 2007 and more than twice the $43.5 billion provided in payments to SSDI program beneficiaries 10 years ago.

For more information, visit www.disabilitycanhappen.org.