More People Return Successfully To Work After Breast Cancer
Return-to-work rates for people on Unum (NYSE: UNM) short term disability claims due to breast cancer more than doubled from 2001 to 2007, rising from 28.8 percent to 59.4 percent.
In cases of long term disability, the rates rose more than 6 percent, from 47 percent to 53.6 percent.
“It’s encouraging to see those return-to-work rates increasing for a couple of reasons,” said Diane Garofalo, senior vice president of Disability Benefits for Unum. “It means people are experiencing more effective, less debilitating treatments, but it also means they are returning to the sense of normalcy and routine that can be so beneficial during a difficult time.”
Through research and education, Unum offers employers guidance on how they can support workers through cancer diagnosis and treatment, and help those employees return successfully to the workplace.
“Breast Cancer Awareness Month sheds important light on this battle that hundreds of thousands of people wage each year,” Garofalo said. “As a leading provider of disability benefits, we know from helping our own customers how devastating the diagnosis can be. We see every day the difference disability benefits and critical illness coverage can make in supporting people through this fight.”
Cancer has been the leading cause of long term disability claims for Unum for the last nine years, and breast cancer is consistently the most common type, accounting for nearly one in four long term disability cancer claims.
In addition to being the leading cause of long term disability cancer claims, breast cancer is responsible for nearly one in five short term disability cancer claims at Unum.
According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, except for skin cancers. During 2010, about 207,090 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women.
Source:
Unum