Amy E. Feldman
The Washington Nationals may have made a rookie mistake in not buying disability insurance.
Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is unlikely to return to the game anytime soon because of injury. The team is going to pay for his loss in the lineup in more ways than one—including that they reportedly didn’t get disability insurance on the more than two hundred million dollars they still owe him.People don’t generally think about disability insurance, either because insurance is boring or because they assume that their job covers them, when that might not be the case.
The law requires employers to have workers comp insurance that would cover future salary if you’re too hurt to return to work—but only if the injury happened on the job. Plenty of people have career-ending injuries away from work. Even if your salary is less than two hundred million dollars, you should ask your employer if they offer long term disability, or consider buying it yourself before you’re put on the DL.