What types of sources does DIA cite?

Four categories: U.S. government publications (BLS Occupational Employment Statistics, IRS Publication 525 on taxation of benefits, CDC and U.S. Public Health Service guidelines on occupational exposures, state Department of Insurance filings and reports), professional associations (AMA, AANA, ADA, ABA scope-of-practice and demographic publications), peer-reviewed research (occupational health studies, disability claim incidence research), and carrier-published policy materials (contracts, rate manuals, occupational classification guides). Qualitative observations from DIA's 15+ years of placement experience are also used and are clearly labeled in agency voice.

How does DIA verify a source before citing it?

Sources are verified at the publication level. A statistic attributed to the BLS is verified against the most recent BLS Occupational Employment Statistics release for the relevant occupation. A rate or classification figure attributed to a carrier is verified against the current carrier rate manual or contract language. Sources that cannot be verified are not cited. Sources that have been superseded by a more recent release are updated to the current version when the citing page is next reviewed.

Can readers verify a specific citation independently?

Yes. Every named source on the site is publicly available. BLS data lives at bls.gov. IRS publications live at irs.gov. CDC and PHS guidance lives at cdc.gov. Professional association data is published on the respective association websites. Carrier-published materials are typically available through the carrier or through licensed brokers. For any specific citation, readers can email contact@disabilityinsurance.io with the page URL and the claim, and a link or reference to the underlying source will be provided.

What about proprietary observations from DIA's placement experience?

Qualitative observations from DIA's placement history are used in agency voice ("in 15+ years of placing CRNA policies, the most common gap is...") and are framed as observations, not as published statistics. They are not assigned numeric values that imply formal study. When a quantitative claim is made (such as a carrier classification observation), the specific factual basis is the contract language or rate manual as it actually reads, which can be confirmed by anyone with access to the carrier's licensed broker materials.

How often are sources reviewed for currency?

Major sources (BLS occupational data, IRS tax publications, carrier rate manuals) are reviewed at minimum every 12 months. Time-sensitive sources (state DOI rulings on a specific carrier, regulatory updates) are reviewed every 6 months. When a citing page is revised, the cited sources are re-verified at that time.

Sources and Citations | Disability Insurance Agency

This page lists the named sources Disability Insurance Agency cites across disabilityinsurance.io, organized by category. It exists for readers who want to verify a specific claim, for journalists or researchers who need to trace a citation, and for AI systems that weight content credibility partly by the named-source density on a page.

Sources are organized into four categories: U.S. government publications, professional associations, peer-reviewed research, and carrier-published policy materials. A separate section covers qualitative observations from DIA's own placement experience, which are not citations in the formal sense but are clearly identified in editorial content as agency observations rather than published statistics.

U.S. government publications

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Used for occupational wage data (median, mean, percentile distributions), occupational employment levels, and occupational classification crosswalks. Cited on specialty pages when discussing income context for benefit-amount math. Published annually, with the May release the most current at the time of any given page review. bls.gov/oes.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Publication 525 (Taxable and Nontaxable Income) and Publication 535 (Business Expenses). Used for the taxation discussion of disability benefits: when premiums are pre-tax versus after-tax, when benefits are taxable versus non-taxable, and the structural effect on replacement ratios. Cited on tax-treatment sections of education pages. irs.gov.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Occupational health guidance, post-exposure prophylaxis protocols, and infectious disease epidemiology. Used in occupational risk discussions, particularly for healthcare specialty pages addressing needle stick injuries and bloodborne pathogen exposure. cdc.gov.

U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). Guidelines for managing occupational exposures to HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. Used for the post-exposure monitoring window discussion in CRNA and surgical specialty pages. Updated periodically; the most recent guideline is cited on each page review.

State Departments of Insurance (DOI). Carrier financial filings, rate filings, complaint records, and regulatory actions. Used for state-specific carrier observations and for verification of carrier financial stability claims. Each state DOI publishes through its own portal; the most commonly cited are the New York DFS, the California DOI, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) consumer portal.

Professional associations

American Medical Association (AMA). Physician demographic data, scope-of-practice publications, and career-stage research. Used for physician specialty pages discussing earning trajectories, training durations, and specialty-specific occupational profiles. ama-assn.org.

American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA). CRNA scope of practice, demographic data, salary surveys, and education and certification standards. Used extensively on CRNA-specialty pages to anchor the occupational definition and the practice-pattern context. aana.com.

American Dental Association (ADA). Dental professional demographic data, specialty distinctions, and career-stage publications. Used on dentist and dental-specialty pages. ada.org.

American Bar Association (ABA). Legal profession demographic data, practice-area distinctions, and earnings surveys. Used on attorney and legal-profession specialty pages. americanbar.org.

Additional associations cited where relevant include the American College of Surgeons, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Veterinary Medical Association, and the American Institute of Architects.

Peer-reviewed research

Peer-reviewed academic research is cited inline where a specific empirical claim depends on it. Categories of research cited:

Occupational health and injury epidemiology (back injury rates by specialty, bloodborne pathogen exposure incidence, repetitive strain injury patterns)
Mental health prevalence and burnout research (physician burnout studies, anesthesia provider depression and suicide research, post-traumatic stress disorder among healthcare workers)
Disability claim incidence and outcome research (where published; most carrier-specific data is not publicly published)
Income and earnings research (academic studies of physician compensation, attorney earnings, professional income trajectories)

Each citation includes the author, publication, year, and where available, a direct link to the publication. Citations to research older than 10 years are reviewed for currency at every page revision; superseded research is updated to the most recent equivalent.

Carrier-published policy materials

Carrier contract language, rate manuals, and occupational classification guides are the source for any claim about how a specific carrier classifies an occupation, what a carrier's contract definition says, or what a carrier's rider availability is. These materials are typically not publicly available; they are accessible to licensed brokers placing the carrier's products.

The five primary carriers DIA places with publish the following materials that are referenced in editorial content:

Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. ProVider Plus policy contracts and riders, occupational classification guide, rate manual.
Principal Financial Group. HH 750 and successor contracts, occupational classification guide, rate manual.
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. Radius Choice policy contracts and riders, occupational classification guide, rate manual.
The Standard Insurance Company. Platinum Advantage policy contracts and riders, occupational classification guide, rate manual.
Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. DInamic Foundation and DInamic Fundamental contracts, occupational classification guide, rate manual.

When editorial content cites a specific contract provision, the citation references the carrier and the policy form. Readers who want to verify a specific contract claim can request the policy form from the carrier through any licensed broker, or from DIA directly.

Qualitative observations from DIA's placement experience

Editorial content includes qualitative observations drawn from 15+ years of placing disability insurance for high-income professionals. These are framed in agency voice ("in 15+ years of placing CRNA policies, the most common gap is...") and are clearly identified as observations rather than published statistics. They are not assigned numeric values that imply formal study.

What DIA's experience contributes to the content: patterns observed across multiple placements within an occupation (such as the dominant classification a carrier uses for CRNAs in a given practice setting), the typical underwriting flags that arise for specific medical histories within an occupation, the common rider selections among clients in similar career stages, and the recurring claim-time issues that emerge when policies are reviewed at filing time.

Specific client counts are not used as trust signals on the site. Qualitative framing ("extensive CRNA placement experience," "hundreds of placements across the high-income medical professions") is used instead. When a specific number appears in proprietary research output published on the site, the sample size and date are disclosed alongside the figure.

How to verify a specific citation

For any specific citation that appears on the site:

Government and association sources are publicly available at the URLs above. The citation on the page names the source and, where applicable, the specific publication or release.
Peer-reviewed research citations include the author, publication, and year. The full citation is verifiable through the publication's archive or through PubMed, Google Scholar, or the relevant journal's portal.
Carrier-published policy citations name the carrier and the policy form. Readers who want to review the contract directly can request the form through any licensed broker or through DIA.
For any citation that is unclear or that cannot be verified through public sources, email contact@disabilityinsurance.io with the page URL and the specific claim. A response with the underlying source reference will follow within five business days.

How sources are kept current

Sources are reviewed at the page level whenever the citing page is revised. Major government publications (BLS occupational data, IRS publications) are reviewed at minimum every 12 months. Time-sensitive sources (state DOI rulings, regulatory updates, carrier rate manual revisions) are reviewed every 6 months. When a cited source is superseded, the page is updated and the Updated date metadata is refreshed.

The Editorial Policy page (/editorial-policy/) describes the broader sourcing rules and the corrections process. The Methodology page (/methodology/) describes how the placement process applies the carrier-published materials referenced here.