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Best State Disability Plan?

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Which state has the best short-term disability benefits?

That depends upon how you define the “best” short-term disability benefits. Is it the state with the highest benefits? Or the state that pays benefits the longest? Or the states with no waiting period for benefits?

California is usually cited as having the best short-term disability program in the nation. That’s because people who are unable to work due to a serious medical condition may be paid for up to 52 weeks. That’s the longest period offered by any state.  However,

California pays only 55% of the employee’s average salary, up to $728 maximum per week.

Hawaii’s plan pays more than the California plan, but for a shorter period of time. In

Hawaii, workers are paid 58% of their average salary for a maximum of 26 weeks. The

New Jersey plan pays still more, with benefits of 2/3 the average weekly salary, or about 67%, for up to 26 weeks.

In both Hawaii and California, employees must go through an initial one-week “waiting period” during which they are not paid. Vacation time or paid sick leave does NOT count towards this one-week waiting period. Two states DO pay for this one-week waiting period, after the person has been out of work for three or four weeks. Those two states are Rhode Island and

New Jersey.

The Rhode Island plan is unique because it pays more to workers with dependent children under the age of 18. Some would consider this the best plan.

New York is one of the 5 states with a temporary disability program. However, at 50% of salary for 26 weeks with an unpaid one-week waiting period, it’s probably not a contender for “best plan.”

Still, the New York plan is miles ahead of the 45 states in the union that  have NO state-mandated short term disability program. As we used to say in

Texas, “they don’t even have a horse in this race.” In those states, the majority of workers have no short-term disability coverage whatsoever. Employees who are sidelined by a serious medical conditioned, as certified by a doctor, are entitled to unpaid leave through the federal FMLA, but they are not entitled to any paid leave.

Even in the 45 states with no mandated short-term disability insurance, some employers choose to provide this benefit. It may be funded by the employer, or coverage might consist of a short-term disability insurance (SDI) policy. The employer may pay all or part of the cost for SDI coverage, or it may be entirely paid by the employee. Some employers offer  optional SDI coverage at a higher cost with their group health insurance.