Disability Plan Evaluation Calculator

Introduction

What is Social Security Offset?

If you receive a pension from a U.S. federal, state or local government based on work where you did not pay Social Security taxes, your Social Security spouse's or widow's or widower's benefits may be reduced. This offset is referred to as the Government Pension Offset, or GPO. The GPO will reduce the amount of your Social Security spouse's, widow's or widower's benefits by two-thirds of the amount of your government pension.

Main Item

With a disabling injury occurring once every second in the U.S., disability insurance is an increasingly important tool to help people maintain their fiscal security. However, individual payments can vary depending on their employer's disability plan. To help make disability calculations easier to understand, Assurant Employee Benefits developed the industry's first online tools that compare how the indexing methods and offsets of various plans affect disability benefits.

"Contrary to popular belief, all disability plans are not created equal," said Scott Horstman, disability product manager with Assurant Employee Benefits.

"In fact, they can vary depending on indexing, or how an individual qualifies for benefits, and offsets like Social Security and return to work earnings, which determine the amount of benefit they are eligible to receive. This tool will help brokers and employers evaluate the different options and how they impact the payout a disabled employee will receive from their disability plan, which can impact their level of income protection for the long term."

The new offset and indexing tool includes three user-friendly modules, including return to work offsets, social security offsets and indexing. Each module includes email functionality so brokers and employers can easily share the information with others.

Return to Work Offsets Tool

Whether for a few days or few years, employees can return to work on a part-time basis before they fully recover from their disability.

The method used to integrate those partial earnings in the long-term disability contract will affect the net benefit that is paid.

The Return to Work Offsets tool compares various methods to provide a better idea of what disability plans will pay.

Social Security Offsets Tool

According to the Social Security Administration, 8.3 million disabled wage earners, or more than five percent of U.S. workers, were receiving Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits at the end of March 2011.

Brokers and employers can test the impact of SSDI benefits on the net disability benefit payable using the Social Security Offsets tool, which provides a helpful visual comparison.

Indexing Tool

Long-term disability insurance provides coverage for an extended period in the event of a disability, yet disability contracts can allow an employee to work on a partial basis and continue to qualify for benefits if their earnings are below a certain amount.

The higher the earnings threshold, the greater the likelihood that they will continue to qualify for benefits.

The Indexing tool helps compare how the indexing rate affects a claimant's ability to continue to qualify for benefits.

"Disability insurance can be complicated, yet is extremely important to a disabled individual's livelihood," Horstman said.

"Employees primarily want to know if their claim will be approved, how much they will receive and for how long. This tool helps answer those questions and simplify disability plans before purchase so brokers and employers can make informed decisions about the best disability plan features to meet their needs and those of their employees."

Attribution/Source(s):
This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its significant relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by Assurant Employee Benefits, and published on 2012/04/05 (Edit Update: 2020/12/13), the content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity. For further details or clarifications, Assurant Employee Benefits can be contacted at assurant.com. NOTE: Disabled World does not provide any warranties or endorsements related to this article.