We Hear This Way Too Much

“I don’t care about mental and nervous disabilities. It’s never going to happen to me, or I’m not crazy.” 

You should absolutely care about whether or not your policy covers mental or nervous disabilities. The Council for Disability Awareness published a study showing 9.3% of all new long-term disability insurance claims were mental or nervous claims. I would also venture to guess that most of them never thought for an instant that they would suffer a disability because of anything mental or nervous related.

Many disability insurance carriers have scaled back the policies they offer consumers to only cover mental or nervous claims for two years, instead of having coverage to age 65 or longer. As a generalization, you get charged about 10% less for policies that only cover mental and nervous claims for two years. You also need to understand there is a valid reason a company can reduce its premium by 10%, there is a good chance that you may need coverage.

Nobody Plans on Depression or Anxiety

Excuse my language, I am just being blunt and paraphrasing some things I have heard from people shopping for disability insurance over the years. The “I’m never going to go crazy”, or “I’m only getting this coverage for a catastrophic scenario” thought process isn’t realistic. I have had many clients who have had to use their disability insurance policies during my career, and I have had clients who have had to use the mental and nervous protection to age 65. None of them ever thought in a million years they would be disabled from a mental or nervous disorder. 

Stressful Occupations

Some occupations are clearly more stressful than others, I would venture to say that an anesthesiologist, or emergency room physician has a bit more stress to handle every day than a manager, or consultant has to deal with. Some occupations do have more mental and nervous claims than others simply because of the deep stress associated with having patients’ lives in your hands every day. As a result there are some disability insurance companies who offer protection to age 65 or longer for mental and nervous¹ claims, with the exception of some of the more stressful occupations like those named above. 

Summary

My point is that “life happens”, and none of us are in control of what is going to happen to us in this life. You buy a disability insurance policy to protect your most important asset, your ability to bring home an income, and when you are evaluating choices on this market, make sure you don’t short yourself by purchasing a policy that limits mental and nervous disability protection. Guardian, with the exception of a few higher-risk occupations, treats mental and nervous disabilities just like any other claim to age 65 or longer…and that is a big advantage to you as a consumer.

1. Policies issued to anesthesiologists/anesthetists, emergency room physicians, dentists (general) and pain management physicians, as well as all policies issued in California, will have a mandatory Mental and/or Substance-Related Disorder (MSRD) limitation. For increase options exercised from such policies, the MSRD limitation will also be included. However, a policy may have been issued without the MSRD limitation; in that event, a new policy issued as a result of an increased option exercise is not required to have the MSRD limitation. Discounts are applied when there is an MSRD limitation. (If materials exclude California, then remove “as well as all policies issued in California.
 
This material contains the current opinions of the author but not necessarily those of Guardian or its subsidiaries and such opinions are subject to change without notice.