Doctor Disability Insurance

A doctor disability insurance policy plays a key part in comprehensive financial planning. It is a policy which provides financial security in the event of a doctor becoming disabled, and is no longer able to work. It would be best for all doctors and medical residents to have this insurance policy. Often, doctors have enough life insurance, but statistically, one is more likely to suffer disability than premature death. About 50% of the home foreclosures that take place are due to disability!

As with all insurance policies, make sure that you get this insurance from a reputable company, and seek help from a financial planner if necessary. You will be issued a contact form to be filled by you. Then after verification on the credibility of the particulars by the company, a policy is issued.

Doctors have a high possibility of physical disabilities

Just like in parachutes and brain surgery, price shouldn’t be the first consideration when buying disability insurance! You should be ready to pay between 1-4% of your annual gross income for a good policy. Compared to other insurance policies, doctor disability insurance policy is expensive as doctors have physically demanding occupations with a high possibility of physical disabilities, leading to the higher possibility of the insurance company having to pay benefits to the policyholder!

The cost of the policy depends on many factors- age, health, gender, occupational specialties, optional benefits available on the policy and the financial strength of the company. It is most advisable to get a disability policy when a doctor is young and healthy as the younger a person, the lower the cost of the policy. Most of the doctor disability insurance policies are non-cancelable and guaranteed renewable, where the price never goes up as long as the policy is applicable.

In the medical field, surgeons, anesthesiologists and other specialists performing invasive procedures have more disabilities than other non-invasive specialists. This is the reason insurance companies charge more for disability insurance for an orthopedic surgeon than a pediatrician. When you buy a policy before declaring a specialty, you lock your rates at a better occupational classification, which won’t change even if you opt for any invasive specialty later on!

And in terms of health, the rates are less when the applicant is healthy. And once a policy is in force, future changes in health have no effect on the premium of the policy. One of the major risks of waiting to buy a policy is a possibility of change in health status. For eg. If you injure your back in an accident before buying a disability insurance, your back is automatically excluded in any future policy you buy; and if you re-injure your back leading to not being able to work, you would more than likely not receive any benefits from the policy.

Group Plans Don’t Follow You Out Residency School

There are many policies where there is an optional feature of increasing the amount of your benefit as your income increases, even if your health has changed! Most of the residency programs offer group disability insurance which is cheaper than individual policies, but has a few disadvantages. The plans can be changed or canceled any time, leaving you without coverage when you most likely may need it! Most of the group plans don’t follow you when you leave residency school. i.e. you have to get a new personal policy after residency school, by going through a medical exam where your health and age determine the rate. Most of the plans have a benefit of up to $2,500 which is taxable, leaving you with a lower net benefit. The most averse disadvantage of this plan is that it requires you to be COMPLETELY disabled before they pay a benefit to you. So if you do have the ability to do any type of work, benefits may not be payable!