This event was a free roundtable session on Wednesday, January 29, 2014, Day 1 of NASI's 26th annual research conference, Strengthening the Web of Financial and Retirement Security for Today’s Working Americans.
Roundtable Summary: This session will explore a new role that employers might fill in assisting individuals to remain in the workforce when they acquire a work-limiting health problem. Motivated, at least in part, by a desire to curb the increase in spending for Social Security disability insurance (SSDI), some researchers have suggested requiring or encouraging employers to purchase private disability insurance and be responsible for a period (say two years) of wage replacement and return-to-work services before employees experiencing work incapacities become eligible for SSDI.
This approach draws on experience with employer-sponsored private long-term disability insurance (LTDI). Such policies now cover about 30% of private sector workers – with coverage more common among white-collar than among blue-collar workers. Many questions need to be addressed in considering the details of such a plan. What insights do private LTDI insurers have? What new issues would insurers face? Are employers that don’t offer LTDI able to take on this responsibility? What is the likely cost and impact of such a plan for employers? Would a model that works for highly skilled and educated workers be effective for people with lower educational attainment and skills? How would the plan work for people with more than one employer or several part-time jobs? What effect might this approach have on the hiring (or retention) of people with disabilities or chronic conditions? The roundtable will present perspectives on these questions from insurers, employers, researchers, and representatives from the disability community.
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