Disabilty Insurance: Short-Term (STD) vs. Long-Term (LTD)

Disability insurance pays a portion of your income when a disability prevents you from doing the substantial and material duties of our occupation. Private disability insurance, as opposed to government sponsored programs like Social Security, can be purchased directly from an insurance company or through an employer's employee welfare benefit plan. 

There are two broad categories of disabilty of insurance: short-term vs. long-term. As the name implies, short-term disability (STD) provides benefits for a short time, usually three to nine months. Long-term disability (LTD) provides benefits for a disability that has lasted longer than such short periods, usually referred to as an "elimination period." The length of LTD coverage varies, but most policies provide benefits from after the "elimination period" to age 65 (although coverage may end sooner for certain type of disabilities, e.g., mental-health disabilities). Some people self-insure for the period of short-term disability and purchase insurance only for long-term disability.

Brenden J. Griffin is a shareholder at Gabroy, Rollman & Bossé, P.C., and has been litigating disability, life, health and ERISA insurance claims for over 10 years.  He can be reached at 520.320.1300.