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V O L . X X I I I N O. I I I F E B R UA R Y 6 , 2 0 1 7 22 G R E AT E R P O R T L A N D F O C U S "Workers compensation covers less than 10% and it's only for things that happened in the work- place," he adds. " e average time to get covered by Social Security disability is 12 months, and the average coverage is $1,200 per month." Unum's insurance covers the employee wherever the disabil- ity happened, which the company says is impor- tant with a more distributed workforce and people working at home. e most common long-term disabilities are cancer and back disorders, while common short-term disabilities are pregnancy and non-back injuries. Simonds says one in four workers will be out of work on disability for six months or more from the time they enter the workforce until age 65. "American's aren't as healthy as they used to be," he adds. "And disability is such an inexpensive coverage." Filling the gaps Piacentini says that while disability is Unum's larg- est business and the company is the largest dis- ability carrier in the country, other companies grew disability practices in greater Portland including Prudential, Sun Life, Disability RMS and Aetna. " ere's a trained workforce here," he says. at's good news for Simonds, who plans to hire half a dozen or so underwriters over the next few years as Unum expands its new dental and vision products and adds new or improved insurances. "More employers are off ering health insurance with higher deductibles, so we can help with sup- plemental insurance," says Simonds, who estimates about 20% of employees sign up for such insurance as it helps them deal with health care gaps. "About 60%-65% of Americans struggle to come up with $1,000 in an emergency, so if your health care deductible is $1,000 and you miss work or have child care expenses this can help," Simonds says. "Supplemental insurance is one of the fastest grow- ing parts of insurance." He says Unum is second to Afl ack Inc. of Columbus, Ga., in off ering supplemental insurance in the United States. Unum also is adding technology to handle chang- ing workforce trends, such as remote work. "We've ยป C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E DESIGN | BUILD | MAINTAIN Top causes for disability, 2015 S O U R C E : Unum CANCER: 16.5% BACK DISORDERS: 13.9% INJURY: 10.4% CARDIOVASCULAR: 9.6% JOINT DISORDERS: 9.2% O T HE R : 40 . 4 % O T HE R : 40 . 8 % PREGNANCY: 27.4% INJURY (EX. BACK): 11.3% JOINT DISORDERS: 7.2% BACK DISORDERS: 6.7% DIGESTIVE SYSTEM: 6.6% Long-term disability Short-term disability