May is Disability Awareness Month, a fact I typically overlookwhen writing the May column. It seems as if disability incomeprotection is fated to be the most overlooked benefit in terms ofboth need and customer value. For example, in study after studywhere employees rank benefits in importance, disability incomecoverage consistently rates behind medical, prescription drug,dental, vision and life insurance.

It’s easy to see why medical coverage is virtually always rankedfirst, and it is also easy to understand that everyone knows theyneed life insurance. In each case, there are significant economicneeds that would be very difficult to meet without insurance.Prescription drug coverage is also essential for those withsignificant needs such as chronic medical conditions. But for manyof us, prescription drug coverage is good for occasionalutilization – it saves us money on prescriptions that we are likelyto need a handful of times a year.

Dental and vision coverage are like that as well. They are“utilization products,” helpful in meeting common bills, especiallywhen significant work is required. And because employees rankingbenefit values usually think about the benefits they use, dentaland vision coverage ranks highly. The question “how do you rankyour employee benefits?” takes people down a path where utilizationdrives importance.

Further, the reference to “disability” in the product’s nameconjures up images of people who are unable to work, or thosesuffering from some rare conditions, as opposed to images ofworking people who are losing something vital (their paycheck). Thekey issue that opens minds to the need for disability incomeprotection concerns loss of income. The common question is: “Howlong could you/your family pay your bills without a paycheck?”

And this problem is compounded by the fact that one of themajor, traditional sources of emergency cash – home equity – hasexperienced significant erosion in the past couple of years.Finally, the average working person has difficulty visualizingdisability in terms of people like themselves. If you were asked ifyou know anyone who is disabled, it’s more likely you will think ofa blind person or someone who was involved in a bad car accidentrather than a young, vibrant coworker who is unable to work due toan unexpected illness or a sports accident.

When you’re working every day, it is difficult to believe thenumbers. On the one hand, disability is common. The Social SecurityAdministration estimates that 3 in 10 people entering the U.S.workforce will be disabled before they retire. And yet, accordingto the Council for Disability Awareness, roughly 70 percent of theU.S. workforce is not protected by private disability insurance.It’s obvious there is an underinsured need here.

This is particularly relevant when the employer has a voluntaryplan for short and/or long-term disability. What can we do aboutthis? I have often heard it said that we should focus oneducating employees about the need for disability incomeprotection, to help encourage them to make informed decisions. Butto me, educating is too passive. We need to go beyond educatinghere.

Given the fact that virtually no one can pay their bills withouta paycheck for more than a short period of time without protection,we need to provide clear advice that cautions them not to overlooktheir need for income protection.

Marty Traynor is vice president of voluntary benefits atMutual of Omaha. He can be reached at [email protected].