Three questions
1. Is it cheaper in the long run to purchase disability in residency vs. postresidency?
2. The number one disability complaint is backpain, isn't it true that most policies do not cover back pain?
3. Most policies stipulate 3-6 month waiting period before payment, but I've heard many stories about companies waiting longer to repay. Furthermore, you may have people tracking you and photographing you to legitimize your disability during this time period. Is this true?
Sorry, can't answer your first question except if you really haven't completed your specialty, it might be difficult to get the "own" occupation part unless you really are in that occupation when you buy it. In my experience, unless you are actually qualified in that specialty, your policy will state general medicine or something along that line.
2. Not sure if the most common doctor complaint is backpain - it certainly is within the population filing disability claims. But, it doesn't matter what is the cause of the inability to work...if you can't do your job (by a physician's assessment) - you can't. (Back pain used to be a big deal with dental disabilities which was the motivation for sitting down to work).
3. Waiting periods - you buy what you want. My husband bought a 3 month (12 week waiting period) actually. He could have bought a cheaper plan for a 6 month wait or a more expensive plan for a 1 month wait. We chose in the middle based on the risk we felt we could afford.
Now...how does it work - we actually got close to using it. My husband is a solo practioner general dentist. 19 years ago, he had a brain tumor removed - it was non-malignant, but we didn't know that until after it was removed. His surgeon had him at full bedrest, except for the bathroom and eating, post discharge from the hospital (3 days) for 1 week. Then, he could do "light" activity - walking, dressing, fixing meals, etc...no lifting children nor driving for 3 weeks. Then, he could drive (now we are at a month), but still no lifting > 10 lb.
So...at one month - he went into the office for a bit. We had friends of ours covering 3 days of restorative work, but most patients wanted to wait for the major work until he returned. In our state, the hygienist could work as long as there was a dentist nearby (the friends) & she did not give anesthesia. So...he would go in to check on the hygiene...but he did not have any energy at all for more than 1-2 hours.
His disability insurance would have kicked in at 12 weeks if he could not have gone back to work. But, he was able to get back to actually working by 8 weeks, altho not full days. He really didn't have the energy to work full days until about 24 weeks. So...we never utilized it. However, our policy stated that if he could not work as a general dentist (meaning doing restorative work - not consulting on insurance claims), they would have paid out. When you own your own practice...there is a fine line between having you gone for too long & what you'd lose vs what you'd gain financially with a disability payment. We ran the numbers & felt it was financially more sound for us to have him work rather than take the disability, altho the surgeon would have signed him out for another month or so.
Now, practically, what did that mean? The friends covering the office didn't really generate much production - it just allowed the office to not completely close. But, we utilize ALL of our savings to cover the overhead for those 8-10 weeks until he could start producing again.
So, my recommendation, read your policy clearly....does it cover overhead (if you have an office) or your income (& what level of income???) or both? Because, if you are like my husband, who had this happen at 33 yo with 2 toddlers, the income he needed then & the income he has needed when they went to college is far different. Also, read the policy - it should state that you are covered if you can't do your own specific job - in your case ER medicine. In our situation, many disabled or retired dentists become insurance consultants - at a much reduced income rate. His policy specifically stated that if he could not do restorative work on patients, they would pay, so he could still collect disability & become a consultant as well.
Finally, have enough liquid savings to cover whatever overhead you need. In our case, we needed the lease payment, the equipment loan payment, the employee salaries (they can't go without a job waiting for you to return & someone has to answer the phone) & your own personal income. And..have enough for the projected time it will take to recover. Also, I have been a cosigner on everything (altho my name does not appear on the business checks) I can sign them. So, I was able to pay the bills when he could not & it did not become a financial nightmare for our accountant to separate business from personal. So, get someone you trust who can do this basic function.
The specific time I know of someone who got the policy in school & did end up with a devastating disability for him - was a classmate of my husband. He had what he thought was a standard disability insurance, but he hadn't graduated, so he wasn't really a dentist yet. However, before he did graduate, he found out he had a severe mercury allergy & couldn't work with amalgam, which at that time was routine. So...his disability policy never kicked in because he never got to the point of being the actual insured (a dentist). So...read the fine print and hope you never need it!
Sorry for the long post.....good luck!
