ICA Disability Committee

Click to access disabilityreport.pdf

Committee Chairs:
Robert Dubiel, Unum
Brenda Dolan, Federated Insurance
Robert Leveque, Unum
Committee Members:
Patricia Bailer, JHA
Chad Cunningham, Principle Financial
Michael Evans, Sun Life Financial
Harriet Frizie, Munich American
Fred W. Gosman III, F.W. Gosman & Company
Tim Hassett-Salley, The Social Security Law Group
Dan Hepner, Union Central
Angela Papaioannou, Sedgwick CMS
Steve Stribling, Northwestern Mutual Life
Kimberly Whistler, Goldberg Segalla

Motivation in Disability, a Return to Work RX? (Page 15)

To achieve the goals of this paper, I conducted the following interview with Les Kertay, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Pendergrass, RN, Ph.D., Unum Group. Drs. Kertay and Pendergrass have conducted extensive literature review on this topic.

As a prelude to this interview, I asked Drs. Kertay and Pendergrass to describe the basic definitions and concepts of disability that form the foundation of their conclusions about motivation and disability. They view Disability as a bio-psycho-social phenomenon, defined by the following:

BIO: Involves a measurable functional impairment related to a diagnosable condition

PSYCHO: Is heavily influenced by attitudes, motivations, values, and comorbidity

SOCIAL: Occurs in a particular social, political, and legal context…

REHABILITATION ASSISTANCE STRATEGIES:
RESEARCH INTO BEST PRACTICES ON CLAIMS WITH A PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPONENT

(Page 39)

Overview of Psychological Impairment within the Industry

To gain an overall perspective of the prevalence of psychiatric impairment in the United States, it is beneficial to consider public sector statistics before exploring the specialized realm of privately purchased individual disability insurance. The Federal Occupational Health Office, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides pertinent public sector disability facts related to psychiatric claims. A few of these statistics are as follows:

• A 335% increase in the cost of psychiatric disability between 1989 and 1995.
• There has been a 300% increase in psychiatric disability claims the last decade.
• Depression alone is estimated to cost employers $24 billion a year in absenteeism and lost productivity.
• 1/3 of all disability cases have a primary or secondary psychiatric component.

The Social Security Administration indicates in their Annual Statistical Supplement-2000
that:

• Mental health disorders currently represent the single most prevalent cause of disability under Title II of SSA, encompassing roughly 26.8 % of all awards…