Disability insurance advice

It completely depends on the policy and what questions they ask. The bigger the policy, generally the more questions they ask. A good insurance agent with years of experience will be up front with you, because they get paid only when the policy is purchased. They want you covered.

My wife was denied life insurance based on her medical Hx. I told her that's pretty bad when the insurance company won't even make a bet with you that you'll live to 60. You can be denied disability insurance or have exclusions for certain conditions.

Think of it this way, if you knew your house was a fire trap, do you think you could convince an insurance company to insure you against fire?

As an aside, did you know that for many insurance agents, their commision for life and disability insurance is usually around 1 year-worth of the premium?

The AMA has great disability and life insurance, and even practice overhead insurance at a very good cost. I shopped around and I could not find anything that could beat it. Still, it is always best to "layer" you disability with several policies, as the AMA plan does not index for inflation, but other than that is pretty darn good. I use the AMA for 70 %, then two group policies for the remainder of the disability insurance. In some states, you can go to your state medical society for for an association discount as well. Don't let a pre-existing condition prevent you from applying - what do you have to lose by applying? The worst that can happen is that they deny you and you still don't have insurance! More than likely, your premium will be a bit higher, and your pre-existing will not be covered for the first two years.

Take home message, you absolutely need disability insurance!

Actually every other insurance has a question that reads "Have you ever been denied disability insurance in the past?" as a trigger to find out what the other guy knew about you. Then they will find it and deny you too.

What a good agent will do is get you a quote for coverage, (which should be a crappy pricy quote if they see more medical issues) then you can choose not to enroll if you hate the price, and try someone else.

Seems like semantics but make sure you say no, not them.

actually, be careful with having multiple policies. most of DI policies exclude multiple coverage if the combine monthly benefit is more than certain amount. So even if you have more than one policy, it doesn't mean they all will cover your disability and provide benefit when you need them.

A couple of things…

I am not a disability insurance underwriter, so you don’t have to believe me. However I have a fair amount of experience in this market and you will definitely be facing an exclusion for the pre-existing condition. The premiums don’t necessarily have to be impacted with an exclusion though.

Exclusions for pre-existing conditions will exclude the pre-existing condition specifically. So if the condition continues or worsens and you are prevented from working, you shouldn’t expect a benefit. However, if you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, which creates a new back condition that debilitates you, you likely can expect benefits – unless it can somehow medically be tied back to your existing condition.

Anything that is medically tied to the pre-existing L5 diagnosis will be excluded, including treatments thereof.


If you are honest during the application process, it should avoid the over-layering of coverage issue that is listed in the post above. In other words, if you inform an insurance company of the existing benefits you have, they will only offer you the difference between what your income allows and what you already have. The insurance companies will avoid over-insuring you.

drpainfree said:

actually, be careful with having multiple policies. most of DI policies exclude multiple coverage if the combine monthly benefit is more than certain amount. So even if you have more than one policy, it doesn't mean they all will cover your disability and provide benefit when you need them.

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That's all taken into account, so it is not possible to covered for too much, if you list it. I disclosed my other policies and thus a maximum level of coverage was then calculated for me based on my income.

I spent a long time reading my contract, and as in any contract, the smallest words mean the most (ie: all, any, and, or). Pay close attention to the definition of total disability, residual disability, partial disability, and what happens if you go back to work part time. Always get specialty specific, otherwise it is not worth the paper it's printed on. Also look at waiver of premiums. Look at the exclusions. If you don't understand it, get a third party to review it before you buy. Look for "non-cancellable" and "future increase of benefit option"

I have heard that one is more likely to use disability insurance than any any or major type of insurance.

iamonline2000 said:

Hi, I am a currently practicing pain doctor. I had back pain abt 2 yrs ago which got better after getting a epidural ( didnt get an MRI b/c the symptoms were too obvious pointing to left L5 radic). I did well since then and now I have more severe back pain this time. I dont have any disability insurance yet. I am worried that this back pain can always come back or never go away. If I get treated with PT/injections, is this going to be considered as pre-existing and affect my premiums? I am 36 yrs old and i still have another 20 yrs to go atleast and hate to lose my career.Any suggestions would be appreciated

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Most likely there will be an exclusion of some sort on your policy if you get one that will exclude any disabilities involving the spine. Obviously there are a million other things that can cause disability but it sounds like the chances of one occurring with your back is much higher.

If you can find access to a group plan or a Guaranteed Standard Issue plan, then you can still get coverage without having to go through health underwriting. The policy might not be as good as private coverage but at least then your back will be covered. The group plans do have a pre-existing condition clause in them that says if you have any issues prior to your enrollment, they won't cover any disabilities that occur because of the pre-existing for the first 12 months after enrollment (this time frame can vary depending on the legal crap in the plan supplement). Be sure to check your associations and see if you can't find something.

If you need to get coverage on your own, don't let an exclusion of your back deter you from getting SOMETHING. Just when you believe your demise will be your back, you'll get cancer or something. Best of luck to you my friend!

I don't think AMA or any other group LTD plan covers PARTIAL disability.

LongSnow said:

The AMA has great disability and life insurance, and even practice overhead insurance at a very good cost. I shopped around and I could not find anything that could beat it. Still, it is always best to "layer" you disability with several policies, as the AMA plan does not index for inflation, but other than that is pretty darn good. I use the AMA for 70 %, then two group policies for the remainder of the disability insurance. In some states, you can go to your state medical society for for an association discount as well. Don't let a pre-existing condition prevent you from applying - what do you have to lose by applying? The worst that can happen is that they deny you and you still don't have insurance! More than likely, your premium will be a bit higher, and your pre-existing will not be covered for the first two years.

Take home message, you absolutely need disability insurance!

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