When was the last time you visited a home that didn't have atelevision in nearly every room or met someone who didn't have acell phone? Americans seem to have plenty of disposable income forgiant flat-screen TVs and the latest smart phones, but most of themlack one of life's true necessities: protection for their abilityto earn an income.

Workers in this country remain woefully uninsured—andunderinsured—when it comes to disability insurance. According toThe Hartford, only 49 percent of U.S. employees have short-termdisability coverage, and 44 percent own long-term disabilitycoverage. In fact, 100 million Americans aren't protected byprivate disability insurance at all, based on Social SecurityAdministration numbers.

Underinsurance—not having enough coverage to adequately protectone's assets—also represents a significant hidden risk foremployees. A Colonial Life survey indicated more than a third offull-time employed adults enrolled in an insurance program providedby their employers feel their plans might not adequately covertheir inability to earn an income for an extended time because ofillness or injury.

You can play a key role in repairing this frayed financialsafety net. Make sure your clients understand the importance ofdisability coverage for their workers. Then show them how they canmake this crucial, basic protection available to their employeeseasily and affordably, with no direct cost to the business.

Living on the edge

Without disability coverage, employees face the risk of notbeing able to support themselves or their families if they'reunable to work because of a disabling accident or illness. In fact,the ability to support themselves if disabled or unable to work isamong the top three financial concerns people have—ranking justbehind money for retirement and paying medical expenses, based outdata out of LIMRA.

The financial impact on individuals who become disabled can beextreme, yet many people mistakenly believe they're covered bygovernment programs or that they can get by on their own. Employersagree their workers aren't realistic on this point: A recentColonial Life survey showed 65 percent of employers didn't thinktheir workers could maintain their current standard of living ifthey were unable to work for two or three months because of anillness or accident.

Statistics—from several national surveys—show they're right.Without disability insurance, the financial odds of a person beingable to support himself if unable to work appear somewhatbleak.

More than 60 percent of American workers live paycheck topaycheck. Half of all households say they couldn't raise $2,000within a month, if needed. Even among households earning $100,000to $150,000 per year, less than a quarter can do so.

Counting all savings, investments and money in retirementaccounts, six in 10 households have less than $50,000 of investableassets and a third have less than $10,000.

Disability more likely

People vastly underestimate their likelihood of becomingdisabled. For instance, 64 percent of wage earners believe theyhave only a 2 percent (or less) chance of being disabled for threemonths or more during their working careers. This is far less thanthe 33 percent actual odds of a worker being disabled for at leastsix months, according to the Council of Disability Awareness.

Some of this discrepancy could be created by how people actuallyperceive disability. Many people think being disabled means beingconfined to a wheelchair due to a lifelong illness or medicalproblem. But in reality, 91 percent of disabilities are caused bycommon illnesses or health conditions, which typically aren'tcovered by workers' compensation. According to Unum's research, themost common reasons for disability leave are cancer, childbirth,heart attacks, muscle and bone disorders, strokes and surgery.

Most disabilities don't qualify under the federal SocialSecurity Disability Insurance program. About 70 percent offirst-time applicants are denied, and those who do qualifytypically wait an average of two years before receiving their firstpayment. Could you go two years between paychecks?

Why workers don't buy

With the need for this protection so clear, why are so manyemployees not protected by disability coverage?

 1) They procrastinate. Like manytypes of individual, personal coverage, disability insurancetypically is sold rather than bought. Many people postpone makingfinancial decisions such as insurance purchases and won'tproactively seek out insurance until they need it or it's too late.However, this indicates a great opportunity for you to initiate theconversation with their employers about the need for disabilitycoverage and to offer options. Workers today still count on theiremployers to provide access to and information about the majorityof their benefits. 

2)  They don't feel informed enough to makegood choices. Insurance decisions aren't always simpleones. Often, people don't understand what type of policy to buy orhow much coverage they need, and they worry about making a poorchoice. Clearly, employees have a need for accessible,easy-to-understand benefits information from a trusted source. Agood benefits communication plan can help solve this problem.

3)  They have other priorities.Today's economy has consumers watching their checkbooks moreclosely. They may be more likely to delay the purchase ofadditional insurance because they have other financial priorities(a higher-definition TV or the newest tablet computer, perhaps?) orfeel they can't afford it. Complemented by benefits education thathelps employees understand their financial exposure and needs,disability insurance offered through the workplace can be anaffordable option that fits employees' budgets.

Offering a solution

With most workers today looking to the workplace for theirbenefits, employers are under pressure to provide a competitivebenefits package while maintaining a strong bottom line. Voluntary,employee-paid disability coverage offers a solution that meets bothemployers' and workers' needs.

Voluntary benefits integrate with a company's core benefits andcan help employers offer a cost-effective, expanded benefitspackage for their workers at little to no direct cost to thebusiness. Employees choose the benefits that best meet theirindividual and family needs and typically pay for these productsthemselves through convenient payroll deduction. Individualvoluntary policies are owned by the employees, so if they everleave employment they can keep the coverage. Some voluntarybenefits are available as group products.

Companies find voluntary products offer them manyadvantages:

Improvement in worker morale, satisfaction and productivity

No added direct costs to the company

The ability to attract and retain employees with morecompetitive total compensation packages

Improved loyalty by giving employees options to purchase lessexpensive insurance than they could get on their own

Voluntary disability coverage is widely available in bothindividual and group products. Coverage can be designed to meshwith the employer's existing benefits — for example, coverage wouldbegin only after employees had exhausted all their sick leave.Plans can be offered with different levels of income replacement,elimination periods and benefit periods to ensure the coverage isaffordable and valuable yet avoids any disincentive to return towork.

Communication is key

Certainly, most voluntary insurance—including disability—needsto be sold. But that doesn't mean pushed. What we're talking abouthere is helping employees understand what coverage they have, wherethey might have financial exposure based on their unique familysituations, and the options available to them. That's why effectivebenefits education and communication is a critical component of anybenefits strategy. 

The best benefits package holds little value if employees don'tknow about their coverage and understand how it works. Only 44percent of employers say workers understand the need for disabilityinsurance very well. Helping employees understand their insuranceprogram improves the likelihood they'll participate. 

However, neither you nor your clients likely have the resourcesto implement a comprehensive, customized benefits communicationplan that reaches each employee individually. And let's face it;you'd be giving up a sizeable portion of your commissions to hirean enrollment firm to do this for you. Don't let that stop you frommaking benefits communication a key component of the solution youpresent your clients. Instead, work with a benefits carrier thatoffers one-to-one counseling as part of its enrollment services atno extra charge. A provider that can enroll all employee benefits,including core benefits, also removes a major hassle for theemployer.

One-to-one benefits counseling in the workplace contributes tostronger participation in a benefits program. Most employees—57percent—say they want face-to-face interaction when buyinginsurance, and nearly 60 percent of employers believe one-to-onebenefits counseling sessions can strongly improve employees'understanding of their benefits and overage needs.

Surveys of employees who meet individually with benefitscounselors during their enrollments also prove the effectiveness ofthe one-to-one method. Virtually all employees (97 percent)surveyed by Colonial Life say personal benefits counseling improvedtheir understanding of their benefits and that this type ofcommunication is important (98 percent).

Tremendous opportunity

There's a strong need in the marketplace for disabilityprotection. That means there's a strong opportunity for you, aswell. You can help your clients provide comprehensive coverage thatprotects their employees with a strong financial safety net thatincludes the basics of disability coverage. This protection is tooimportant to overlook, and today's voluntary plans offer acost-effective solution for employers of all sizes.

Mike Keller is southwest region vice president of sales forColonial Life & Accident Insurance Co.