While health insurance should cover most or all medical costs, it doesn't replace lost income. It is disability insurance, purchased on your own or through an employer, that replaces wages lost because of sickness or injury.
Recent figures indicate more U.S. workers are acquiring long-term disability insurance.
Still, the largest provider of group-disability policies in the nation, Unum Corp. of Portland, Maine, estimates that 35 percent of the workforce is covered. The number of long-term disability policies and the volume of premiums sold each year are increasing, according to A.M. Best , an Oldwick, N.J., company that rates insurers. Unum estimates that about 25 million people have group coverage. Sedgwick Noble Lowndes benefits consulting firm. One in 10 will become disabled before age 65.