Private Short Term Disability Ins.

dogperson11

Hello again, Ladies.

My employer does not offer short term disability insurance and my state doesn't offer it for maternity leave. Have any of you purchased short term disability insurance privately? I've "googled" a few companies and received 2 quotes from their auto system (haven't had calls returned by agents yet) that seem very reasonable.

I know this would need to be in place before conception...

Any tips?

Thanks!

BlckRoses

I looked into it since the cost for my employer sponsored one was so high, but I couldn't actually find any companies that offered private STD.  It usually doesn't make financial sense to them. 

If you do find one that will provide it to you, make sure it covers maternity and find out if there is a waiting period before you can use it for maternity. Also look into the elimination period, the one my company offers has a 30 day elimination period, so it will only cover 2 weeks of maternity leave.  

sueann911

Look into how long you have to pay on the policy before it can be used. There is a waiting period for many of them. I have mine through Aflac but its through work and there was about two months that I had to delay TTC to make sure it would be in effect after the birth.

designer303

I looked for this coverage and was unable to find any company that would provide it to an individual and cover a normal pregnancy.  If you find one that does please share as I am in the same boat. 

dogperson11

designer303 said:

I looked for this coverage and was unable to find any company that would provide it to an individual and cover a normal pregnancy.  If you find one that does please share as I am in the same boat. 

Will do :-)

TeeJ526

I had private short term disability through Metlife and it did cover pregnancy and they had 2 options for elimination periods; 14 or 30 days.

teresaide

designer303 said:

I looked for this coverage and was unable to find any company that would provide it to an individual and cover a normal pregnancy.  If you find one that does please share as I am in the same boat. 

THIS. I looked hard into STD but all I could find was private short term disability that you could use if you didn't have a normal vaginal birth. You had to have an emergency C-section or something go wrong during labor for it to come into play.

@sueann911 Does your Aflac policy through your work cover for regular pregnancy/births? My husband just started a new job and they have Aflac and I've been thinking about looking back into it.

designer303

I contacted Aflac and I think they do have a policy that would work, but because my company didn't offer it I wasn't eligible. And @teej526 I called metlife and they said no way. How did you get your coverage?

CarolinaGirl83

I have short term disability through Aflac. I think it was a 10 month waiting period. I can't remember how much I pay per month since it comes out of my check. When I get ready to use it, it covers all but about $150 of my normal monthly pay. One of my coworkers had used hers & had no trouble at all.

CarolinaGirl83

teresaide said:

designer303 said:

I looked for this coverage and was unable to find any company that would provide it to an individual and cover a normal pregnancy.  If you find one that does please share as I am in the same boat. 

THIS. I looked hard into STD but all I could find was private short term disability that you could use if you didn't have a normal vaginal birth. You had to have an emergency C-section or something go wrong during labor for it to come into play.

@sueann911 Does your Aflac policy through your work cover for regular pregnancy/births? My husband just started a new job and they have Aflac and I've been thinking about looking back into it.

My Aflac policy through work will not let me cover DH for short term disability.

dogperson11

TeeJ526 said:

I had private short term disability through Metlife and it did cover pregnancy and they had 2 options for elimination periods; 14 or 30 days.

Thank you. I'm currently waiting to hear back from an agent with MetLife. This gives me hope!

dogperson11

jessa8907 said:

I have what Aflac calls their "maternity package" which includes a hospitalization policy (to cover delivery) and short-term disability (to cover maternity leave). I included DH on the hospitalization policy and it's still very reasonable. You have to have coverage for a year before delivery in order to be eligible. 

I have it through work so I'm not sure how it works on an individual level but you could always contact a local rep and find out.

Unfortunately you can only get Aflac through an employer policy

ADH0906

I get mine through my employer so this might not be much help, but it's administered by Cigna.  For my STD, there's only a 7-day waiting period and it then covers 6 weeks for vaginal birth and 8 weeks for a CS. 

dogperson11

GhostMonkey said:

Your best bet would be to annoy the crap out of your employer/HR.

I've tried this a bit. Unfortunately the company I've worked for for over 2 years was just sold to a different company. If we were still under the old ownership I could have this taken care of quickly, but new owner won't budge...

dogperson11

Yeah, thanks. We've set aside a large chunk, but was hoping to not need to use it all. Thanks for the input everyone!

TeeJ526

designer303 said:

I contacted Aflac and I think they do have a policy that would work, but because my company didn't offer it I wasn't eligible. And @teej526 I called metlife and they said no way. How did you get your coverage?

That's strange. I purchased Short Term Disability Insurance through my broker who sells Metlife products. I'll check my paperwork, but I recall it stating that it covers sickness (including pregnancy). Maybe their coverage has changed since I purchased it?