Disability Insurance

[Helper101]

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Resident-1st Year Physician Disability Insurance
As first year physicians, residents, interns, and fellows, some insurance companies understand that you are the future of the medical community. It is extremely important that while you work to establish yourself among your chosen field, you protect your present and future income in the unfortunate event of a sickness or injury. By purchasing your policy now, you are not only taking advantage of lower costs, but also protecting your future.

GRADED PREMIUM PLANS
Quality personal Disability Insurance can be structured with a graded premium scale. This premium scale allows one to purchase up to $3,500 a month in coverage while still in training, and pay a much lower premium than a level premium policy.

The number one reason to own your own disability insurance during training is that you've locked in your insurability for after training. Also, group plans often fall short and don't always provide the best definitions of "Own Occupation" or other key provisions.

Finally, you invest to build for a future. You invest in your education. What will you future look like if you become disabled?

Any thoughts?

 

[Ross434]

Resident-1st Year Physician Disability Insurance
As first year physicians, residents, interns, and fellows, some insurance companies understand that you are the future of the medical community. It is extremely important that while you work to establish yourself among your chosen field, you protect your present and future income in the unfortunate event of a sickness or injury. By purchasing your policy now, you are not only taking advantage of lower costs, but also protecting your future.

GRADED PREMIUM PLANS
Quality personal Disability Insurance can be structured with a graded premium scale. This premium scale allows one to purchase up to $3,500 a month in coverage while still in training, and pay a much lower premium than a level premium policy.

The number one reason to own your own disability insurance during training is that you've locked in your insurability for after training. Also, group plans often fall short and don't always provide the best definitions of "Own Occupation" or other key provisions.

Finally, you invest to build for a future. You invest in your education. What will you future look like if you become disabled?

Any thoughts?

My thoughts being, that, if i am disabled, and i cant work in a career where i was making 25k/month, how is 3500/month going to make up for that loss?

 

[southerndoc]

My hospital provides disability insurance free to all residents. So I signed up for it. $2500/month sure beats $0/month.

 

[ny skindoc]

My thoughts being, that, if i am disabled, and i cant work in a career where i was making 25k/month, how is 3500/month going to make up for that loss?

If you can get $3,500 a month policy while still in training thats actually pretty good, as your income rises you will then be eligible to purchase additional coverage to make up for your lost income.Disability insurance is very critical as your chance of becoming disabled is much greater than that of premature death.

 

[Helper101]

The way good individual DI policies work is that "if, because of sickness or injury, you are not able to perform the material and substantial duties of your occupation". "Your occupation", in a good plan, is your specialty. Say you're a surgeon and you are unable, for any medical reason, to perform...you would collect your benefit. You collect EVEN if you go back in another job. Common for physicians is teaching. If your specialty is invasive in nature, you can collect for a max of 5 years. If your specialty is not (pediatrician, internal medicine, ect.) your benefit can be collected to at least age 65.

Most group plans are capped at a $ amount and so many limitations on benefit triggers, benefit periods, etc....oh, and if your company/hospital is paying for the insurance, your benefit is taxed as ordinary income. When you buy your own, it's a tax free benefit.

Remember, bills and goals don't disapear just because you can't work. And disability isn't just in a bed unable to function. More often than not, it's much less minor or mental in nature.

My thoughts being, that, if i am disabled, and i cant work in a career where i was making 25k/month, how is 3500/month going to make up for that loss?

 

[Snoopy]

Also, keep in mind that when you buy as a resident there are usually no health questions asked because you are buying as part of a large group.

When you finish residency and try to get your own policy you will be subject to intense scrutiny of your medical history. If you have been treated for things such as back pain or depression you may be excluded from coverage, have higher premiums, or be subjected to extensive riders.

If you have questions about disability insurance, a great online resource is the Disability Insurance Forums. You can find it at:

http://www.disabilityinsuranceforums.com/index.cfm

Even a cursory read through some of the threads will demonstrate that disability insurance can be a thorny issue. You would be wise to get as much coverage as you can while you are young and healthy and not chance your future earning potential.

 

[Gauss]

something to consider is does the insurance only cover total disability or does it have a provision for partial? Some only cover total whereas others have both. So you could work part time and if you didn't earn your expected income (generally rated at 100K, even during residency) you could qualify for partial.

 

[Finally M3]

I bought a supplemental disability insurance policy this year, level premium (after 7 years, I would lose all savings from a graded plan in one year). This is on top of the hospital-provided polcy.

$3600, but also have the option of adding an additional $7000 without further physical examination or history questions once I finish residency. Policy also had riders for COL increase if disabled as well as provision for partial disability. I figure this is the policy I will be using as an attending...

If you are interested, you should also see the time period you have to be disable before you start collecting. Mine was a six-month period, but your premiums goi up significantly (like double to triple your monthly premium) if you are looking for a two or four month period.

 

[Helper101]

I bought a supplemental disability insurance policy this year, level premium (after 7 years, I would lose all savings from a graded plan in one year). This is on top of the hospital-provided polcy.

$3600, but also have the option of adding an additional $7000 without further physical examination or history questions once I finish residency. Policy also had riders for COL increase if disabled as well as provision for partial disability. I figure this is the policy I will be using as an attending...

If you are interested, you should also see the time period you have to be disable before you start collecting. Mine was a six-month period, but your premiums go up significantly (like double to triple your monthly premium) if you are looking for a two or four month period.

The maximum many companies will provide for a resident is $3500. The maximum, regardless of what you earn ($50k-$5M), that an insurance company will underwrite is $10,000/month. The period you need to wait, called the elimination period, is important. The best policies offer 3 months of waiting before benefits begin to accrue. To go from 3-6 months provides very little savings on the premium side. To go from 3-2 months will increase the premium dramatically.

Don't rely on group DI if you're a physician. You won't be happy with the details. If something is free, it generally isn't that good. This is VERY true with group disability (LTD).

Comments? Questions?

 

[Tax Heaven]

My thoughts being, that, if i am disabled, and i cant work in a career where i was making 25k/month, how is 3500/month going to make up for that loss?

In most cases if you are making well above $5000 as a resident then you could get qualified for $4500 monthly benefit and which automatically will increase by 6% yearly. Every company has its rules of contractual resident agreement. I can help to find the right policy for your occupation and e-mail it to you.
Reply to this message and let me know if you are interested.
thank you

 

[Crayola227]

My thoughts being, that, if i am disabled, and i cant work in a career where i was making 25k/month, how is 3500/month going to make up for that loss?

Because if you haven't paid for like almost 10 years full time work into Social Security, you're looking at $700 per month from SSI (different from SSDI)

do the math.... $700 vs $3500

 

[Crayola227]

and I second you really need to look at the fine print and get your own separate policy

the disability benefits from employers usually aren't everywhere you want to be