Combined Insurance: Consider Supplemental Accident Insurance and Disability Insurance During Safety Awareness Month

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) June 26, 2008 -- Combined Insurance (http://www.combinedinsurance.com), a leading provider of supplemental insurance, encourages consumers to use Safety Awareness Month in June as a good time to ensure they have the right supplemental insurance (http://www.combinedinsurance.com/insurance-types/accident-insurance.html) protection in place to meet their needs should an unplanned accident or illness strike. Owning supplemental accident insurance (http://www.combinedinsurance.com/insurance-types/accident-insurance.html) or disability insurance policies are among the ways consumers can help safeguard individual or family assets in the event an unplanned accident or injury prevents or limits the ability to work.

According to Combined Insurance's research of more than 330,000 accident claims, the most reported accidents in the past year were sprains, fractures and strains totaling more than 200,000 claims. Such injuries can often require medical attention and leave people unable to work for a period of time.

Overall in 2006, there were approximately 3.9 million nonfatal occupational injuries, according to the 2006 Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. In addition, the 2005 edition of Facts and Figures published by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project reports the average length of a hospital stay is 5 days, at an average of $22,300 per stay. Such expenses related to hospitalization and emergency-room care can end up costing a family months' worth of income, yet many families don't have a supplemental disability insurance (http://www.combinedinsurance.com/insurance-types/disability-insurance.html) plan in place to cover some of the accident and sickness-related expenses not covered by major medical insurance.

Due to the high risk of accidents and injuries both on the job and at home which can limit a person's ability to work for a period of time, Combined Insurance stresses that it's important for consumers to not just weigh their current health insurance coverage against the costs not covered, but also consider those expenses which they might feasibly incur in the coming months or years. Combined Insurance recommends that if consumers find they aren't in a position to cover those costs, they might want to consider additional protection options. A supplemental Accident insurance and Sickness insurance plan is one way families can help protect against unplanned, out-of-pocket costs.

"June is Safety Awareness Month and an important component of being 'safe' either on the job or at home is making sure you have the right amount of supplemental insurance protection to cushion against any unplanned accident or sickness-related costs that may occur. Being able to cover such expenses goes a long way toward helping to protect a family's assets and savings and helping to keep them more financially secure," stresses Becky Mills.

Supplemental (http://www.combinedinsurance.com/insurance-basics/about-insurance.html) Accident Insurance and Sickness Insurance - Added Protection

Supplemental accident insurance policies typically provide coverage to help fill in where major medical might not. Coverage levels tend to vary, but can include a daily or "per accident" benefit for:

?    Hospital admission

?    Hospital confinement

?    Intensive care

?    Emergency Room treatment

?    Outpatient surgery

?    Recovery after hospital confinement

?    Ambulance/Transportation

?    Blood & blood plasma

?    Family lodging

?    Medical appliances

?    Additional accident benefits, including fractures, concussion, accidental death or dismemberment, physical therapy and health screening.

Another consideration is that benefits from supplemental accident insurance policies are generally payable directly to the consumer, or a designee, regardless of other insurance policies in force. This is an important benefit to keep in mind - at times when a consumer most needs help to cover expenses, the potential to cover some of those costs is there.

Finally, supplemental accident insurance and sickness insurance coverage begins immediately, offering around-the-clock protection on or off the job, regardless of age.

Combined Insurance Encourages An Ounce of Prevention for Safety Awareness Month

"The National Safety Council has stated that overexertion is the cause of about 31 percent of all disabling work injuries. It's a good idea to spare your back the stress and strain of lifting and bending. If you have lift heavy objects try to reduce the amount of pressure placed on the back by bending the knees and keeping your spine in a better alignment," said Becky Mills. "Instead of using your back like a crane, you allow your legs to do the work. If you don't use your back like a lever, you avoid putting it under potentially damaging force."

The National Safety Council is a good resource for additional facts on how to prevent accidents. You can visit their web site at http://www.nsc.org/.

About Combined Insurance Company:

Combined Insurance (http://www.combinedinsurance.com) is a leading provider of supplemental accident, health and life insurance products and is a member of the ACE Group of Companies. With a field sales force and corporate staff in excess of 10,000 people worldwide, Combined meets the growing coverage needs of policyholders around the globe. For more information, call 1-800-490-1322 or visit http://www.combinedinsurance.com.

About ACE:

The ACE Group of Companies is a global leader in insurance and reinsurance serving a diverse group of clients. Headed by ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE), a component of the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, the ACE Group of Companies conducts its business on a worldwide basis with operating subsidiaries in more than 50 countries. Additional information can be found at http://www.acelimited.com.

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