Did you know that 90 percent of the disabilities in the United States are actually due to an illness occurring? This might surprise some individuals who assume that disabilities mainly exist from birth or as a result of an injury. According to a disability rate study, only ten percent of disabilities suffered by individuals are due to an injury, and the rest are illness related. Whether you have an illness or an injury, if it is a long-term disability, as opposed to short-term, there are a few things you really should know about insurance coverage since it may have profound effect on your financial condition following the development of a disability.

First, short-term disability coverage usually means 90 days. Most short-term coverage plans are fairly straightforward and they are usually guaranteed to pay around 60 percent of the employee's pre-disability pay. Short-term disability might be all you need and if so, it should be a smooth process. You take a small cut in pay, but have time to recoup and return to work. Long-term disability on the other hand can be a very complicated process and is more challenging to qualify for. There are many rules and qualifications that must be met for long-term disability benefits.

You may think you are qualified for long-term disability automatically if you cannot perform your current job, but that is not necessarily so. If you cannot perform your current job, in the eyes of your insurance provider you may be able to perform another job that falls within your experience and education level. This may result in an Occupation Test and an Earnings Test.

The Occupation Test will determine whether or not you are able to perform your normal job and the Earnings Test will determine whether or not you are able to earn more than 80 percent of your pay before disability. To be eligible for long-term disability you must qualify under both tests by not being able to hold your current job and not being able to earn at least 80 percent of your pre-disability pay. For short-term disability you only need to qualify under one of the tests; qualifying for short-term does not mean you will automatically qualify for long-term.

Long-term doesn't necessarily mean 'for life'. Many long-term policies only pay for up to 24 months, although some will pay for life. Long term disability policies also pay around 60 percent of the pre-disability pay (not always, depends upon the policy), but they were not created to take care of employees forever. Instead, long-term policies were created to help the disabled person survive while training for a more suitable job, considering their disability. This could include going back to school to develop new skills, turning a passion into a small business, or changing fields completely by taking a job that you are qualified to do.

While most employers provide disability (short and long-term) to their employees, it is still important for you to know that long-term disability has different rules and regulations, especially since statistics show that one in five Americans will be disabled for over a year before they reach age 65.