Methodology and Disclosures
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act requires a plan administrator to furnish plan documents on written request. The operative provision, 29 U.S.C. 1024(b)(4), reaches further than most people assume:
The census
This report draws on a census of the 2,912 financial services employers that filed a Form 5500 disclosing group long-term disability coverage with the Department of Labor for the most recently disclosed plan year. Employers were selected by the business code each one declares on its own filing, never by name, since a name search returns false matches and silently omits employers no one thought to search for. Each main-form filing was joined to its Schedule A records on the filing acknowledgement identifier, and only contracts carrying the long-term disability benefit indicator were retained.
The plan documents
Fifteen plan documents were obtained from ten carriers, which together insure 85% of the covered lives in this data set. None was issued to an investment-sector employer, since certificates are booklets issued to employees rather than regulatory filings, and financial firms do not publish theirs. Each certificate was read for six provisions: the covered-earnings definition, the replacement percentage, the maximum monthly benefit, the own-occupation period and the test that follows it, the pre-existing condition limitation, and any conversion right at termination.
The interviews
Three interviews inform this report. Each subject was told plainly, before the interview began, that this publication is affiliated with a disability insurance brokerage, and each was interviewed for professional judgment rather than for a specific transaction. Quotations are lightly edited for length and clarity; no quotation has been altered in a way that changes its meaning.
Machine assistance
This report was researched and drafted with substantial assistance from large language model tooling, which wrote the extraction scripts, located clauses in the certificates, drafted the prose, and ran the verification passes described above. It conducted no interviews and made no editorial or scope decision. Four findings were corrected before publication after a verification check, never a reader’s objection, each one caught by returning to the primary document.
Disclosures
This report is published by KF Financial, D/B/A Set for Life Insurance, a licensed insurance producer. Every interview subject named in this report was told, before the interview, that this publication is affiliated with a disability insurance brokerage.
Disclaimer
This report is provided for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any insurance product, and it does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. Figures are reported as filed for the most recently disclosed plan year and are not independently guaranteed; coverage terms vary by carrier, by employer, and by state, and no coverage is issued except after individual underwriting. Statements by interview subjects are their own views and are not endorsed by KF Financial, D/B/A Set for Life Insurance. This publication is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Labor or the Social Security Administration. Corrections may be sent to 26 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10004.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act requires a plan administrator to furnish plan documents on written request. The operative provision, 29 U.S.C. 1024(b)(4), reaches further than most people assume:
The census
This report draws on a census of the 2,912 financial services employers that filed a Form 5500 disclosing group long-term disability coverage with the Department of Labor for the most recently disclosed plan year. Employers were selected by the business code each one declares on its own filing, never by name, since a name search returns false matches and silently omits employers no one thought to search for. Each main-form filing was joined to its Schedule A records on the filing acknowledgement identifier, and only contracts carrying the long-term disability benefit indicator were retained.
The plan documents
Fifteen plan documents were obtained from ten carriers, which together insure 85% of the covered lives in this data set. None was issued to an investment-sector employer, since certificates are booklets issued to employees rather than regulatory filings, and financial firms do not publish theirs. Each certificate was read for six provisions: the covered-earnings definition, the replacement percentage, the maximum monthly benefit, the own-occupation period and the test that follows it, the pre-existing condition limitation, and any conversion right at termination.
The interviews
Three interviews inform this report. Each subject was told plainly, before the interview began, that this publication is affiliated with a disability insurance brokerage, and each was interviewed for professional judgment rather than for a specific transaction. Quotations are lightly edited for length and clarity; no quotation has been altered in a way that changes its meaning.
Machine assistance
This report was researched and drafted with substantial assistance from large language model tooling, which wrote the extraction scripts, located clauses in the certificates, drafted the prose, and ran the verification passes described above. It conducted no interviews and made no editorial or scope decision. Four findings were corrected before publication after a verification check, never a reader’s objection, each one caught by returning to the primary document.
Disclosures
This report is published by KF Financial, D/B/A Set for Life Insurance, a licensed insurance producer. Every interview subject named in this report was told, before the interview, that this publication is affiliated with a disability insurance brokerage.
Disclaimer
This report is provided for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any insurance product, and it does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. Figures are reported as filed for the most recently disclosed plan year and are not independently guaranteed; coverage terms vary by carrier, by employer, and by state, and no coverage is issued except after individual underwriting. Statements by interview subjects are their own views and are not endorsed by KF Financial, D/B/A Set for Life Insurance. This publication is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Labor or the Social Security Administration. Corrections may be sent to 26 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10004.