Harris Interactive conducted a survey on behalf of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) to assess baby boomers’ perceptions about disability income protection should they face the unfortunate event of a disabling injury or accident.
Most baby boomers recognize that protecting their income is important, and many would likely be forced to turn to personal savings or family in the event of a disabling accident or injury. However, many baby boomers do not have any type of disability insurance, and they are unclear on where to turn to for more information.
Most Baby Boomers Believe Disability Insurance Is Important
The majority of baby boomers (56 percent) say that it is extremely, very or fairly important to protect their household income should they or the primary wage earner in their home face a disabling accident or injury, and one in ten (11 percent) say that it is extremely important. However, one in five (19 percent) say that protecting their income with private disability insurance is not at all important. Nearly half (47 percent) of baby boomers have at least had a conversation with someone about disability insurance over the past year. Boomers have had a conversation with a family member or spouse about disability insurance less than twice a year and a friend or coworker fewer than once over the past year.
Nearly Half of Baby Boomers Do Not Have Some Sort of Disability Insurance
While most baby boomers recognize that disability insurance is important, nearly half (48 percent) acknowledge that they don’t have any type of disability income insurance. Specifically, almost three in five (58 percent) baby boomers do not have short-term disability insurance through an employer, and slightly less than that (56 percent) do not have long-term disability insurance through an employer. Just over one in ten (12 percent) baby boomers
report having long-term disability insurance that they purchased individually. Furthermore, nearly one in ten(seven percent) of baby boomers were unsure about whether or not they have long-term disability insurance through an employer, six percent were unsure about whether or not they have short-term disability insurance through an employer, and five percent were unsure about long-term disability insurance they purchased individually.
One in Four Baby Boomers Would Rely Their Personal Savings if a Disability Occurred
One in four (25 percent) baby boomers said they would rely on their personal savings if they were facing a situation where they or their primary wage earner could not work, and more than one in ten (13 percent) would rely on private disability insurance. Thirteen percent said they would rely on workers’ compensation and fifteen percent would rely on Social Security disability insurance. Fourteen percent do not know what they would do for financial help in the face of such emergency.
Baby Boomers Get Information About Disability Insurance from Numerous Sources
Baby boomers would turn to a number of sources for information about disability insurance. A quarter (24 percent) would refer to an insurance agent and one in ten (10 percent) would consult a financial advisor. Nearly one in six (17 percent) would turn to a human resources representative with his or her employer and just slightly fewer (15 percent) would turn to the internet to find initial information about private disability insurance income. Only one in ten (7 percent) would turn to a family member or spouse.
Finally, almost one in ten (9 percent) say there is no source that he or she would turn to and thirteen percent of baby boomers do not know what source they might turn to.
Methodology
Harris Interactive conducted an online survey on behalf of AHIP between April 25 – 29, 2008 among a nationwide sample of 3,607 adults aged 18 and older, including 1,182 Baby Boomers aged 44 – 62. Data were weighted using propensity score weighting to be representative of the total U.S. adult population on the basis of region, age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity, and propensity to be online. A full methodology is
available.
©2008, Harris Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.
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