life/disability insurance for dental school

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xtractor

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I'm starting school next August and want to know who else takes out either life or disability insurance as a student. I want disability insurance in case something happens to my hands that prevents me to work for the rest of my life.
Can anyone give information as to what is a good plan or good company? How much do you pay a month and how much are you covered for.
I have no wife or kids and am only taking out mostly federal loans with no co-signer, so I don't see the purpose for life insurance.
Thanks
 
ummm...don't you need to have ABILITY first in order to take out DISABILITY insurance?! i.e. be graduated with a license?
 
As far as I know, most dental schools automatically sign you up for a disability insurance policy, and then as a member of ASDA (I highly encourage you to join), you get free Life and Disability insurance (this actually got used at Pitt this year for a student who passed away).

If you want more than that, I think MedPro offers insurance for students, they're mostly malpractice, but I think they do disability as well.
 
rockclock said:
ummm...don't you need to have ABILITY first in order to take out DISABILITY insurance?! i.e. be graduated with a license?
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We are borrowing a lot of money based on out future abilities and projected income. If you somehow lose your hand in D4, your loans will not be forgiven. You need insurance to pay it back.

Vicviper, I'll call my University on Monday to check what type of insurance I get while in school. Just looking at my cost of attendance components only show hospitalization and malpractice insurance.
 
I am probably one of the only, if not the only person, who can speak about this topic based on personal experience. A couple years ago during my 2nd year of d-school, I developed a medical problem that forced me to take a medical leave of absence to receive treatment for something that I almost thought would never allow me to live a normal life again let alone practice dentistry. I am very fortunate enough that we figured out what treatment helped and I was barely able to make it back to school the following year. My point is that I almost never had the chance to make a living let alone from dentistry. It would have been nice to have had disability insurance back then just in case. Now, I can never get it because of my medical history. So, if you have the ability to get disability and life insurance and that the insurance companies will allow you to get the disability insurance while in d-school, then get it. You never know when something will occur that will take away your ability to earn a living and take away your health and life. Protect yourself and protect your family. I was lucky that I was on the Navy HSCP where I got paid while I was out of school receiving treatment.
 
Vicviper said:
As far as I know, most dental schools automatically sign you up for a disability insurance policy, and then as a member of ASDA (I highly encourage you to join), you get free Life and Disability insurance (this actually got used at Pitt this year for a student who passed away).

If you want more than that, I think MedPro offers insurance for students, they're mostly malpractice, but I think they do disability as well.
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If you pass away, your loans are forgiven. Not sure why disability/life insurance is necessary.

Hup
 
HupHolland said:
If you pass away, your loans are forgiven. Not sure why disability/life insurance is necessary.

Hup
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Say that you lose your dominant hand in a car accident near the end of your 4th year - you're over a quarter of a million in debt, and you have no way of repaying it. That's why you have disability insurance. And like it was said before, if you cosigned with someone and you pass away, your loans debt goes to them.
 
Effective July 1, 2002, if your school concludes that a borrower is
totally and permanently disabled, you must assign the account to the
Department for a determination of eligibility for discharge. If the
Department makes an initial determination that a borrower is eligible
for discharge, the Department will place the loan in a three-year
conditional discharge status

This is from the department of education. So while you are in school and using federal loans, then you don't have to pay back the loans if you become permanently disabled. If you have private loans on the other hand, then it might be a different story.
So it seems that disability insurance may not be necessary while in school. But I think it is still a good idea to get because you get monthly payments to live off of for several years after the "incident".
 
xtractor said:
Effective July 1, 2002, if your school concludes that a borrower is
totally and permanently disabled, you must assign the account to the
Department for a determination of eligibility for discharge. If the
Department makes an initial determination that a borrower is eligible
for discharge, the Department will place the loan in a three-year
conditional discharge status

This is from the department of education. So while you are in school and using federal loans, then you don't have to pay back the loans if you become permanently disabled. If you have private loans on the other hand, then it might be a different story.
So it seems that disability insurance may not be necessary while in school. But I think it is still a good idea to get because you get monthly payments to live off of for several years after the "incident".
Click to expand...

The insurance company that provides our disability coverage at Pitt was telling us that "totally and permanently disabled" only happens some of the time in disability cases, and they were saying that a number of situations happen where you can't continue school, but you're not "totally and permanently disabled." So, I wouldn't say to go out and get your own insurance, but definitely sign up for the ASDA free insurance.
 
HupHolland said:
If you pass away, your loans are forgiven. Not sure why disability/life insurance is necessary.

Hup
Click to expand...

The disability insurance is for those cases that are unexpected should you nit be able to work again. You can get short term and long term disability. My wife had to use her disability once when she broke her hip running a marathon in 2005. It took 2 years for her hip to completely heal. Her treating orthopedist put her on bed rest for 4 months, so disability had to be tapped. She was already working at this point, but it really doesn't matter that she was working. It could happen to anyone and could jeopardize their livelihood. If you don't have short or long term disability, you could be screwed. It is best to get it as soon as you can afford it. Like my case, I didn't get it and now I will never qualify for it.
 
NAVY DDS 2010 said:
It is best to get it as soon as you can afford it. Like my case, I didn't get it and now I will never qualify for it.
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May I ask if I buy the student insurance now (I'll be a 1st year dental student in the Fall) -- and if I get some short term disability or medical problem during dental school, can I still get a better, available insurance policy later as a dentist (mostly through the ADA)?

I'm asking because I have hyperflexible joints, which put me at risk for various connective tissue disorders. I'd often have fingers pain (and sometimes shoulders/wrists pain) -- I'm suspecting maybe Carpal Tunnel, but haven't been diagnosed with anything yet.

My family physician tested me negative for rheumatoid arthritis, but has referred me to a rheumatologist to see about a diagnosis. But if being diagnosed make me ineligible for disability insurance in the future, I'm thinking I should wait until after I've bought a disability insurance.

However, just in case something curable happens during dental school and goes on my medical record, does anybody know if I already have student insurance with the ADA, will I still be able to purchase the full/practicing dentist insurance as well?
 
nevers said:
May I ask if I buy the student insurance now (I'll be a 1st year dental student in the Fall) -- and if I get some short term disability or medical problem during dental school, can I still get a better, available insurance policy later as a dentist (mostly through the ADA)?

I'm asking because I have hyperflexible joints, which put me at risk for various connective tissue disorders. I'd often have fingers pain (and sometimes shoulders/wrists pain) -- I'm suspecting maybe Carpal Tunnel, but haven't been diagnosed with anything yet.

My family physician tested me negative for rheumatoid arthritis, but has referred me to a rheumatologist to see about a diagnosis. But if being diagnosed make me ineligible for disability insurance in the future, I'm thinking I should wait until after I've bought a disability insurance.

However, just in case something curable happens during dental school and goes on my medical record, does anybody know if I already have student insurance with the ADA, will I still be able to purchase the full/practicing dentist insurance as well?
Click to expand...
That's a tough situation. The Student ADA plan should be available right away as a dental student. The plan is not all-together very good but it does give you some good features if you are disabled as a student (like reimbursement of your student loans, which is helpful if you have to now retrain to do something else). You actually can't purchase any individual disability insurance without having an income until you are a 3rd or 4th year student. At that time most companies will give you "some" benefit because they know you have a high income earning potential. But like you said, you will have troubles getting coverage because of your joint issues. In most cases an insurance company will just exclude your condition unless it is bad enough that it could completely prevent you from doing ANYTHING. Then they will likely decline you. Rheumatoid Arthritis is a condition that is simply uninsurable unless you go through a re-insurer (basically someone that is willing to take on the risk but charge a butt load for the coverage that is severely limited). Find someone who knows a lot about disability insurance and can guide you through your options, between the ADA plan, an Individual plan, or finding the right Group Plan if you join a larger practice. There are also other types of policies out there that can cover other things like critical illness (which is the most common type of disability). I know your main concern is your current condition but if you can't get that covered at least get everything else covered.
 
Dental students, just like dentist, should always have disability insurance. Like you said, if you have in D3 or D4, and not only you get in an accident but an illness (yes, even at a young age) that interferes with hand/eye coordination or motor skills, you are still responsible for your loan, and on top of that, you have to replace your income for the years ahead!

I am a pre dent, but actually took 2 years off after undergrad to look into the financial services industry, and I sign up a lot of dentists and chiropracters for disability. My company even has a program for new dentists to qualify for higher income replacement limits.

DI is a smart choice, because you are investing in your education, why not invest in your ability to work
 
I think you guys are being worry warts, if you look at the real data behind any insurance companies, the chance of a 22 yr old being permanently disabled or losing a hand are slim to none. I intend on learning what the schools have to offer but I dont plan to go out of my way to purchase insurance that I won't need. Life insurance is especially useless if you have no dependents.

I'm just looking at the numbers and making a rational decision. If everyone would die or get dismembered left and right, then insurance companies would be broke. But last time I checked they're all sitting on a ton of cash.
 
Sorry to bump an old thread - I had a question about disability insurance:

My family has a history of glaucoma, several have had severe vision degeneration from the disease, even with early diagnosis and proper care. Would this family history, even if I currently am not diagnosed with the disease, preclude me from getting disability insurance as a practicing dentist? I know this is a worst case scenario, but staring down the barrel of a $400,000+ loan, I'm trying to think out all the different outcomes of attending dental school before I pull the trigger. I looked around online with little avail, maybe one of you have been in a similar situation.
 
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