Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) reintroduced her Federal Employee Short-Term Disability Insurance Act on March 3, which would allow federal employees to purchase short-term disability insurance at group rates to replace a portion of their income lost due to a short-term injury or disability, pregnancy or pregnancy-related illness. Norton noted that this bill is more important than ever with the emergence of Long COVID.
In her introductory statement, Norton said: “According to the Social Security Administration, a 20-year-old worker has a one-in-four chance of becoming disabled by retirement age.
The majority of disabilities are not caused by major accidents, but by injuries or illnesses, such as back injuries or cancer, according to the Council for Disability Awareness.
There is every reason to allow our federal employees to take advantage of the federal government’s purchasing power to obtain the most reasonable price if they choose to purchase short-term disability coverage on their own, at no cost to the federal government.”
