Group Life and Disability Insurance

Group term life

Group term life is usually written as a flat benefit amount or a multiple of salary, and it is inexpensive because it is underwritten across your whole group rather than person by person. Most employees never have to answer a health question to get covered up to the guaranteed issue amount.

For many working adults, an employer plan is the only life insurance they have. That is worth knowing when you set the benefit amount, and it is worth telling your team during enrollment, because a policy nobody knows about does not reassure anyone.

Short-term and long-term disability

Disability coverage replaces part of an employee’s income when they cannot work. It is the benefit employees most consistently underestimate, and the one most likely to prevent a financial crisis inside your workforce.

• Short-term disability picks up after a brief elimination period and typically runs for a set number of weeks. It is what covers a surgery recovery, a difficult pregnancy, or an injury outside of work.
• Long-term disability begins where short-term ends and can continue for years. This is the coverage that matters in a serious illness or accident.

Note that Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave program provides some wage replacement, but it is capped and time limited. Employer disability coverage is designed to sit alongside it, not to duplicate it. We will walk through how the two interact for your specific plan design.

Voluntary options

If your budget will not stretch to employer-paid disability this year, both short-term and long-term can be offered on a voluntary basis, and employees who buy in get group pricing and simplified underwriting. Additional supplemental coverage is covered on our voluntary benefits page.