Story at-a-glance
- Practice owners need more than basic coverage—they need owner-specific protection.
- An enhanced residual (partial) disability rider is critical for income protection when you’re working but earning less.
- A recovery benefit pays even after returning to work if income is still down.
- Consider adding business overhead expense insurance to keep your practice running while you recover.
- Guardian is a top choice for comprehensive protection for doctors and dentists who own their practice.
Owning Your Practice = Different Needs
If you’re a physician or dentist who owns your own practice, your disability insurance should do more than just protect your personal income. You also need to protect the business itself—your patients, your staff, and the overhead costs that don’t stop just because you do.
Why the Enhanced Partial Benefit Matters
There are two types of partial disability riders:
Basic Residual Benefit
Pays if you have:
- A loss of income, and
- A loss of time or duties
That may work fine for W-2 employees, but not for owners.
Enhanced Residual Benefit
Pays if you have:
- A loss of income due to illness or injury—even if you’re still working full time and doing all your duties
Why is this important? Because as a business owner, you may not cut back your hours or duties—but you may see fewer patients, work more slowly, or lose income for other reasons. The enhanced benefit still pays. Basic does not.
What Is the Recovery Benefit?
Many enhanced partial riders include a recovery benefit, which pays you even after you’ve returned to work if:
- You had a disability
- You recovered and went back full time
- Your income is still lower than it was before the disability (often due to lost patients or referrals)
This gives you time to rebuild your practice without worrying about your income.
Don’t Forget: Business Overhead Expense Insurance
If you own your own practice, you’re likely responsible for rent, payroll, utilities, equipment leases, and more. That’s why you should also consider a Business Overhead Expense (BOE) policy.
BOE insurance pays for your business’s monthly expenses while you’re disabled—so your practice can stay open even if you’re not seeing patients.
It keeps your team employed, your bills paid, and your reputation intact while you recover.
Why Guardian Is a Top Choice
At DoctorDisability, we often recommend Guardian for practice owners because:
- Strong financial ratings and mutual ownership
- True own-occupation definition
- Best-in-class enhanced residual and recovery benefits
- Offers BOE policies for business owners
- Competitive pricing for the value
Final Thought
As a business owner, your disability plan should protect more than just your paycheck—it should protect your entire livelihood. Look for a policy with enhanced benefits and consider pairing it with a BOE plan to keep your practice running no matter what.
Ready to protect your practice and your income? Click the button below to request your personalized quote.
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