1.) An ‘own occupation’ definition of disability
Most doctors are pretty active. If you’re like most doctors, you’re on your feet for much of the day. Surgical specialties and emergency medicine may require more activity than others, but few doctors are very sedentary in their practices.
Furthermore, the vast majority of physicians could not quickly match their earnings if they suddenly and unexpectedly couldn’t work anymore. What happens then? Can you still make your student loan payments? Your mortgage?
Disability insurance is based on definitions, and the definition of ‘disability’ that your insurance contract uses is absolutely key – because not every policy defines ‘disability’ the same way. This is important, because if you don’t pay attention to this critical factor in disability coverage, you could actually be driven from your practice and from medicine altogether because of an illness or injury – and not qualify for disability benefits! For physicians and most other professionals, it’s important that your disability insurance policy defines disability in a specific way: Own occupation.
Any Occupation
The alternative is an “any occupation” definition. This means that you will not qualify for benefits if you are able to pursue gainful employment in any job.
This is a much more difficult hurdle to leap to qualify for benefits. Own occupation disability is also much easier to prove, in the event you have a claim.
Naturally, an “own occupation” policy will have higher premiums, all other things being equal, than an “any occupation” definition. That’s because they are much more likely to pay a claim. In most circumstances, a doctor’s personal income should be protected with an ‘own occupation’ insurance policy.
2.) Guaranteed Renewable and Non-Cancellable
You want to have some stability in your premiums and you want to know that the insurer cannot pull the rug out from under you by making it impossible to renew your policy. You also want to make sure that they cannot simply raise rates on the entire class of insured – say, announce a 20 percent increase in premiums for all doctors, because they had an unprofitable year or two. Look for a guarantee that your rates will not rise above a certain amount – if possible, to age 65.
3.) Future purchase increase option
This is an important policy feature for medical students and those relatively early in their medical careers. This option guarantees you the right to purchase more insurance in the future, regardless of your medical condition. This option helps you protect and insure not only your current income, but future pay increases that you would likely have received had you not become disabled and you were able to continue practicing medicine like you planned.
4.) Elimination period
This is the disability equivalent of a deductible. The elimination period is the number of days of disability that must go by before you can qualify for benefits. But some conditions like multiple sclerosis don’t come all at once. You may be unable to work for a few days, then be able to manage for a while, then have another relapse. Will your policy credit you elimination period for non-consecutive days?
5.) Cost-of-living provisions
You should probably consider at least some inflation protection on your benefits. The protection you are purchasing now may not go very far in another ten years. But if your disability is severe, you may well be on claim that long. Long-term disability insurance policies should take the risk of inflation into account.
The disability insurance industry has changed substantially in recent years. It is now much more difficult to find companies that still write disability insurance policies that contain the key provisions that doctors and dentists need most.
DoctorDisability.com specializes exclusively in serving the insurance needs of doctors and dentists nationwide. President and CEO Charles Krugh is a Certified Financial Planner with more than 15 years of experience working with people in the medical industry.
Physicians save time and money by comparing plans and prices from multiple insurance companies. The site provides free quotes from leading names in the disability insurance industry along with friendly and knowledgeable customer support. The best values in the insurance industry are located in one place and are available any time doctors are ready, including late at night and on weekends.
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