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Benefits June 9, 2004
Insurance Study: STD, Health Coverage Integration Has Advantages
June 9, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A study by a
national insurance provider claimed that melding workplace
disability and health-care programs from the same carrier can
help return disabled employees more quickly and can help
lower benefit costs.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
The CIGNA study found that the duration of short-term disability (STD), and how quickly the employee returns to work full time, is better for those with an integrated disability and health care program. CIGNA said in a news release that it studied STD claims data from 60,000 employees in 156 companies from 2001 to 2003. The goal: to compare results when an employer got both medical and STD from CIGNA with those who get STD coverage from CIGNA and health from another carrier.
For a hypothetical employer with 3,000 employees, integrated coverage resulted in savings of between $100,000 and $200,000 in direct disability costs, and up to $500,000 in indirect costs (lost productivity, costs of hiring and training temporary replacement workers), the CIGNA study claimed.
CIGNA said in its announcement that it will institute discounts of between 3% and 7% for clients who purchase short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) coverages in conjunction with CIGNA medical coverage.