Page 131 - Group Insurance and Retirement Benefit IC 83 E- Book

This person would be ineligible to enroll until 30 more days have passed during which

the individual was at work full time, with no intervening illness.

Elimination Period

Insurance companies offer a wide range of elimination periods for group LTD plans,

from as few as seven days to as long as one year. In between, 30, 90 and 180-day periods
are generally available, with the 180-day, or six-month, period most common. Unlike

STD plans, LTD plans do not usually specify different elimination periods for injury and

sickness. Many employers offer STD benefits or salary continuation for the full span of
the LTD elimination period. For example, if the LTD elimination period is 90 days, the

employer has a salary continuation plan that allows the employee to receive full salary for
the first 90 days of disability before LTD benefits become available.

Figure 6-2 combines several of the features we've been discussing. Refer to this figure as
you read the paragraphs following.

In this application, the probationary period extends for 90 days after a new employee
begins work, but because this employee was sick and off work during the last several

days of the probationary period, he is not eligible to enroll until 30 more days of

continuous employment. When this requirement is fulfilled, he enrolls and is eligible for
LTD benefits.

The employee works for some indefinite time, then suffers an accidental injury that
leaves him disabled. His group LTD plan has a 90-day elimination period, but the