Misconceptions

• Social Security disability is for people whose condition has lasted, or is expected to last, more than a year. Most disabilities do not last that long. In the past, this meant people whose disabilities were temporary were largely without resources.
  
  

Time Frame

• By 1979, the Employee Benefits Survey had begun tracking a new benefit for employees--short term disability insurance. By the 1990s, almost a third of all full-time employees had short term disability insurance.
  
  

Features

• Short term disability insurance varies from provider to provider, but it usually kicks in within seven days of an individual becoming ill or injured. It pays only a portion of the employee's salary, usually 45 to 65 percent, and benefits are usually exhausted in 13 to 26 weeks.
  
  

Limitations

• These policies sometimes limit the conditions they will cover. Aflac Insurance, for instance, does not offer short term disability for any kind of mental illness. Other policies cover an injury or accident from the first day but will not cover an illness until the employee has used all of her sick days.