Odds of Being Disabled are All Over the Map
You have an 80 percent chance of becoming disabled during your working years. Or maybe it’s 52 percent. Or possibly 30 percent. But it could be much lower. Unless you get injured, of course. And did you realize that 31 million people experience a disabling injury each year?
Full article on how to find out your actual odds of a disability.
Sounds like the people who want to sell you disability insurance have an unmatched ability to exaggerate.
Even so, this is a problem that the US is not managing properly. Chile has a much better system — as the NCPA has documented.
Many (possibly most) private disability insurance policies insure the individual not against disability, but against being unable to continue their profession. An example of a disabling condition is a surgeon that develops arthritis. While still being physically able to teach, work as a medical director or provide primary care, the event would trigger disability payments.