“that’s a big concern for people who are unwell, naturally, and a big concern for insurers like us who are trying to support their recovery,” she said. “i believe that’s where we may see the biggest impact.”the insurer has also seen people on disability for other health issues who already had low levels of anxiety facing an “exacerbation of anxiety symptoms or disorders” that were keeping them out of work longer.“individuals…who maybe had sub-threshold anxiety disorder or even a full anxiety disorder that wasn’t disabling to them before, we’re seeing those individuals on claims doing worse with the pandemic,” she said. “having increased anxiety can prolong their disability.”employees’ mental health has long been identified as a challenge to employers: a conservative estimate pegged the economic impact of poor mental health at $50 billion annually. during 2020, claims for mental health supports increased 24 per cent, according to data from clhia’s members.“we’re anticipating, and the data backs us up, a pandemic after the pandemic when it comes to mental health,” said joe blomeley, green shield canada’s executive vice-president of individual, public sector and mental health. he pointed to the growing number of canadians quitting their jobs, in part due to burnout.“i don’t think that’s a three, four-month phenomenon, it’s something that will likely continue post-pandemic. employers have to be equipped to make sure their employees have the services they need to treat mental-health conditions.”blomeley said canadians between ages 35 and 44 had the highest prevalence of mental-health claims across green shield’s business, and between 2019 and 2021 there were huge jumps in claims for younger cohorts: there was a 10 per cent increase for those between the ages of 25 and 34. “in the past year we’ve seen a pretty substantial spike across the board,” he said.insurers have been sounding the alarm for years that mental health challenges are making up a substantial, and still growing, part of short- and long-term disability claims. sun life canada said in a 2021 report that mental-health claims represent more than 30 per cent of its claims, and 45 per cent of its disability expenses. nicholson said ia sees similar claims trends.while many insurers waived the waiting period for short-term disability early in the pandemic to allow those who’d been infected or exposed to isolate without worrying about pay, covid-19 itself has made up only a small percentage of disability claims. for ia, it was less than one per cent. according to industry-wide data from the canadian institute of actuaries, it also had a muted impact on life insurance claims. at its peak, covid-19 represented six per cent of group life insurance claims.but steve raskin, a barrie, ont.-based personal injury and employment lawyer who was previously the vice-chair of the ontario trial lawyers association’s ltd section, thinks the low rate of covid disability claims may change.he said an increasing number of clients are coming to him after having been denied long-term disability for lingering covid symptoms. colleagues who specialize in ltd have told him similar stories, he said.it remains unclear how many people are affected with long-haul symptoms, with various studies pegging the percentage at between five and 40 per cent of people infected with covid-19. raskin said he sees this as a potential problem for employers, particularly as many begin reopening their offices.“i think the true level of the problem is being masked right now,” he said. “when more people go into the office or struggle to go into the office, and all of a sudden they have the stress of commuting and they’re around co-workers who can observe them more closely, i think what’s going to happen is the scope of the problem is going to get bigger.”
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