{"id":17985,"date":"2020-04-06T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.benefitscanada.com\/news\/how-will-the-coronavirus-impact-long-term-disability-claims-144753"},"modified":"2020-04-06T09:00:38","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T13:00:38","slug":"how-will-the-coronavirus-impact-long-term-disability-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2020\/04\/06\/how-will-the-coronavirus-impact-long-term-disability-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"How will the coronavirus impact long-term disability claims?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kelsey Rolfe<\/span> | April 6, 2020 <\/p>\n

The coronavirus pandemic is expected to impact employers\u2019 short-term disability claims\u2019 experience as workers fall ill and require time off work to recover from the virus, but plan sponsors may also have to prepare for an increase in long-term disability claims after the crisis eventually ends.<\/p>\n

The spike in claims could follow the same pattern as it did in the wake of the 2008 recession, says Lianne Clarke, practice lead and vice-president of wellness and disability solutions at Cowan Insurance Group. \u201cIt\u2019s [because] of the impact to the economy that we\u2019re going to see a spike in STD after this, and that\u2019s going to flow through to LTD.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employees have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic \u2014 more than 2.13 million Canadians have already filed for employment insurance in the past two weeks. For companies that have implemented temporary layoffs, that will have knock-on effects for the employees who remain.<\/p>\n

Read: How to support employees\u2019 mental health during coronavirus<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got so many layoffs and reduced workforces happening right now that those people who are still in a job are happy to be in their job, but they\u2019re taking on all that extra workload,\u201d she says. \u201cHistorically, what we see when this happens is, . . . once everything stabilizes, those people who have been working feel burned out, and you\u2019ll start to see them taking disability for other reasons \u2014 the stress of all this \u2014 which then flows through to LTD.\u201d<\/p>\n

As well, notes Clarke, employees who aren\u2019t used to working at home and don\u2019t have ergonomic work setups could face the onset of neck, back, shoulder and arm issues, which could lead to STD or LTD claims for musculoskeletal issues.<\/p>\n

However, the potential effect of the coronavirus on employers\u2019 LTD experience isn\u2019t yet on their radar, she says, but they still have opportunities to support staff and try to mitigate the risk. \u201cThe big concern right now is, how do we support employees in this new work environment, how do we make sure they\u2019re taking care of their mental health [and] how do we make sure that they\u2019re supported with ergonomic setups?\u201d<\/p>\n

Read: Feds introduce 75% wage subsidy to help employers keep staff during coronavirus<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

She suggests employers share a list of relevant supports that are offered under their benefits plans and wellness programs. They should also make sure to check in with any employees who\u2019ve been temporarily laid off.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay connected with them to reassure them,\u201d says Clarke. \u201cCheck in with them, make sure they\u2019re looking after their health while they\u2019re off, because what we don\u2019t want to see is people are recalled from their layoff and they\u2019ve become disabled while they\u2019re laid off. If [employers] have continued coverage during their layoff, they\u2019re going to be claiming for STD at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a emailed statement to Benefits Canada<\/em>, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association said it was too early to speculate on the impact of the coronavirus on LTD claims. \u201cWe don\u2019t have any evidence or claims data from our members at this point, so we can\u2019t point to trends for reasons for claims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read: Employer responsibilities around benefits, pension provision during coronavirus<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Read the full article at BenefitsCanada.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kelsey Rolfe | April 6, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic is expected to impact employers\u2019 short-term disability claims\u2019 experience as workers fall ill and require time off work to recover from the virus, but plan sponsors may also have to...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17985"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17985\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}