Best Disability Insurance for Physicians

Disability Insurance for Physicians

Disability insurance for physicians is extremely useful. It protects a physician’s income source when they cannot perform their duties due to serious medical issues.

The reasons could be a severe illness or serious injury.

Disability insurance policies, including both long-term and short-term, may contain an ‘own-occupation’ clause, which provides benefits if the insured cannot perform their specific profession’s duties.

Apart from physicians, this disability insurance can be bought by dentists, veterinarians, podiatrists, pediatricians, etc. The likelihood of sustaining an injury that could lead to disability is not limited to off-duty activities; professionals, including physicians, can become disabled due to a variety of risks, both related and unrelated to their work environment.

This means that you may not be able to receive worker’s compensation in such cases. To remedy this, disability insurance for physicians is a perfect choice.

How is Disability defined?

Being hurt or feeling sick is not called being disabled. Most insurers consider a person disabled when they cannot perform their professional roles.

Still, some insurers don’t consider an injury or illness a disability when the health worker can work in the medicinal field.

Hence, you need to check for three things before buying disability insurance for physicians:

Any Occupation policy – Any Occupation’ disability insurance policies may not always come with a low premium charge compared to ‘Own Occupation’ policies, as premium rates are influenced by several factors including the policy’s terms, the insured’s health, age, and the benefit amount. This insurance policy is mainly designed for severe disabilities. For instance, you can work as a medical consultant if you get severely injured and cannot perform your clinical duties. Then, you will not be considered disabled under the any-occupation policy.
Own-Occupation policy – This is the opposite of any occupation policy. Under this insurance policy, you are protected to work in your chosen profession. In case a disability prevents or restricts you from performing your duties, then you are liable for insurance benefits. Even if you can work in the same field but in a different position. Then, you will receive benefits under this insurance policy.
Transitional Own-Occupation policy decides your benefits according to the difference between your insurance benefit amount and potential post-disability income. Simply put, this policy offers to cover the loss of income after disability.

Why do you need Disability Insurance for Physicians

As a physician, you need to ask yourself:

How will you earn if you cannot work?
How would you pay the bills after losing your job?
What would happen to your patients if you cannot continue your private medical practice?
How would the loss of income affect your ability to provide for your family?

The answers to these questions will be extremely helpful to you when buying disability insurance for physicians.

Are there different types of Disability Insurance for Physicians?

Yes, there are several different types of disability insurance for physicians to choose from.

Here are some of the most popular disability insurance policies for doctors in the US:

Group Disability Insurance

Group disability insurance policies cover employees of a company or organization. Employers usually offer group disability insurance to employees as an additional benefit.

While the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Dental Association (ADA) may endorse or offer access to group disability insurance plans for their members, they do not provide these insurance policies directly. Members should review the terms and options provided through affiliated insurance companies.

These types of disability insurance plans are guaranteed. Under these insurance policies, you can apply for coverage by simply enrolling.

Group disability insurance policies may require limited or no individual underwriting for enrollment, but this can vary based on the policy and the insurer. Some level of underwriting may be involved, especially for higher levels of coverage.

However, there are several loopholes in group disability insurance. The majority of group insurance policies provide only basic coverage.

This type of coverage may not always suffice for physicians who earn a higher income.

Individual Disability Insurance

Individual disability insurance is more vast and specific. It offers several custom features which are absent in group insurance policies.

Additional policy riders benefit the policyholder of this type of disability insurance. Most professionals supplement their group coverage with individual disability insurance plans.

With individual disability insurance policies, you are guaranteed coverage even if you lose your job and the subsequent group coverage.

Short-term Disability Insurance

Short-term disability insurance is exactly what it says. It offers to compensate for non-threatening temporary injuries and illnesses.

This disability insurance offers benefits after around 14 days from the disability incident.

You can expect to be covered under this insurance policy for 6 months to 2 years. Short-term disability insurance policies provide regular coverage throughout this compensation period.

Long-term Disability Insurance

These policies offer coverage for serious illnesses and injuries restricting the policyholder from performing their work.

The injury or illness could affect your working ability for several months or even years.

The benefits under this policy last as much as 5 to 10 years.

In some cases, the policyholder receives benefits until they reach 65. This type of disability insurance can be bought through a group plan or individually.

What is the cost of Disability Insurance for Physicians?

The exact cost of a disability insurance policy is dependent on several factors, such as:

Age (Insurance policies tend to get costlier as you age)
Gender (Women’s policy-seekers have to pay more as compared to men)
Health status (Any pre-existing conditions can raise the cost of insurance)
Location (Every state has different rates of insurance premiums)
Benefit duration (Higher premiums are required for insurance policies with long-term benefits)
The elimination period (Premium payments become cheaper in case you wait longer to receive benefits)

Conclusion

Disability insurance for physicians has become extremely common today. Thousands of private practitioners and employed physicians are buying disability insurance policies.

Before buying disability insurance for doctors, read the insurance riders carefully.

Some of these riders can protect you against even partial income loss. A ‘future increase’ rider benefits you by raising the coverage amount over a fixed period.

Hence, make sure to read the offered documents carefully before buying disability insurance for physicians in the US.

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