UNM should start short-term disability program for staff

Editor,

In light of recent restructuring of the catastrophic-leave program at UNM, I would like to urge administration to implement a short-term disability benefit as an opt-in program for UNM staff.

I strongly believe the catastrophic-leave program is a valuable resource for life-threatening situations for our staff, and I also strongly believe that there is room to close the gap of coverage for non-life-threatening, but just as crucial, medical attention. It concerns me that in the past week I have heard of two situations where catastrophic leave was denied to staff members for such procedures as open-heart surgery and recovery from a serious accident.

Short-term disability programs typically cover about 60 percent of an employee's salary for an approved amount of time, and it typically requires only a small monthly premium from the employee. It covers major surgeries, minor surgeries, childbirth and other medically necessary procedures. I understand that such a program was offered in the past at UNM, but it was discontinued because of low participation.

Now is the time to re-implement a short-term disability insurance program to complement the catastrophic-leave program. UNM has very generous leave policies that we all appreciate, but as with most programs or organizations, there is room for improvement. I hope you agree that a short-term disability program would be a valuable and cost-effective improvement to our UNM culture and benefits package.

Bonnie Leigh Reifsteck

UNM staff