own occupation disability insurance for psychiatrist?

[deleted314290]

How important is own occupation disability for a psychiatrist, especially an outpatient psychiatrist? Would I be making a mistake if I purchased a general non cancelable policy with the suggest riders? I have a hard time comprehending how own occupation would be beneficial in this situation. I assume that if I am disabled to the point I cant be a psychiatrist, I would not be in any condition to perform a different line of work. Any thoughts? Thanks.

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[clausewitz2]

How important is own occupation disability for a psychiatrist, especially an outpatient psychiatrist? Would I be making a mistake if I purchased a general non cancelable policy with the suggest riders? I have a hard time comprehending how own occupation would be beneficial in this situation. I assume that if I am disabled to the point I cant be a psychiatrist, I would not be in any condition to perform a different line of work. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Imagine the jobs that are available for people who, say, can't read or are unable to attend to lengthy conversations. Imagine night parking lot attendants. Imagine being told you get nothing because you could sit in a booth and take tickets and maybe walk around a few times just fine.

Then ask the question again.

 

[slappy]

How important is own occupation disability for a psychiatrist, especially an outpatient psychiatrist? Would I be making a mistake if I purchased a general non cancelable policy with the suggest riders? I have a hard time comprehending how own occupation would be beneficial in this situation. I assume that if I am disabled to the point I cant be a psychiatrist, I would not be in any condition to perform a different line of work. Any thoughts? Thanks.

It's DEVILISHLY important. Does that help?

 

[Mad Jack]

If it didn't cover your own occupation, you may as well not have it.

 

[deleted314290]

I understand what everyone is saying but what I find difficult to see is a scenario in which I am so disabled that I couldnt be a psychiatrist but could continue to work as a night parking lot attendant. In all likelihood I would be totally disabled if I could not perform my duties as a psychiatrist. Perhaps someone could give me a scenario in which I couldnt perform my duties as a psychiatrist but would be able to work some other menial job? Thanks.

 

[slappy]

TBI

 

[deleted314290]

Thanks, that helps and makes a lot more sense.

 

[splik]

I understand what everyone is saying but what I find difficult to see is a scenario in which I am so disabled that I couldnt be a psychiatrist but could continue to work as a night parking lot attendant. In all likelihood I would be totally disabled if I could not perform my duties as a psychiatrist. Perhaps someone could give me a scenario in which I couldnt perform my duties as a psychiatrist but would be able to work some other menial job? Thanks.

I know I tend to flippantly say that psychiatrists are ******ed but if you think that psychiatry requires no more mental effort than working as a parking lot attendant or stacking shelves then you're doing something horribly wrong

 

[Mad Jack]

I understand what everyone is saying but what I find difficult to see is a scenario in which I am so disabled that I couldnt be a psychiatrist but could continue to work as a night parking lot attendant. In all likelihood I would be totally disabled if I could not perform my duties as a psychiatrist. Perhaps someone could give me a scenario in which I couldnt perform my duties as a psychiatrist but would be able to work some other menial job? Thanks.

Laryngeal cancer, a strokes of various sorts, various oral cancers, anything that results in severe hearing impairment, etc etc.

 

[deleted314290]

I know I tend to flippantly say that psychiatrists are ******ed but if you think that psychiatry requires no more mental effort than working as a parking lot attendant or stacking shelves then you're doing something horribly wrong

I never said that psychiatry requires no more mental effort than a parking lot attendant. That example was used to drive home the message that in a general policy if you could do a menial job but not psychiatry you are SOL. The purpose of the discussion was to think of catastrophic scenarios in which I would be disabled, but not to the point of total disability where I could still work a menial job, making the general policy a poor insurance against disability. Hence why everyone else is suggesting own occupation. Thanks for conversation all, will definitely get own occupation with a sweater vest rider.

 

[clausewitz2]

I never said that psychiatry requires no more mental effort than a parking lot attendant. That example was used to drive home the message that in a general policy if you could do a menial job but not psychiatry you are SOL. The purpose of the discussion was to think of catastrophic scenarios in which I would be disabled, but not to the point of total disability where I could still work a menial job, making the general policy a poor insurance against disability. Hence why everyone else is suggesting own occupation. Thanks for conversation all, will definitely get own occupation with a sweater vest rider.

Hey at least you didn't going into neurology, so no need for bowtie tail coverage.

 

[MD Financial Services Scott]

I never said that psychiatry requires no more mental effort than a parking lot attendant. That example was used to drive home the message that in a general policy if you could do a menial job but not psychiatry you are SOL. The purpose of the discussion was to think of catastrophic scenarios in which I would be disabled, but not to the point of total disability where I could still work a menial job, making the general policy a poor insurance against disability. Hence why everyone else is suggesting own occupation. Thanks for conversation all, will definitely get own occupation with a sweater vest rider.

I agree with you that Own Specialty definitions are not really needed for the most part in Psy. In order for that policy to pay you benefits that a typical Own Occupation Not Engaged definition would not then you would need to be unable to do your specialty, still able to work in another occupation, and make greater than 20% of your pre-disability earnings. If you start to go down the path of 'I lost my hearing, speech, sight, and so on' those things are typically covered under a presumptive clause anyway so they would trigger a full benefit regardless if you are still working in your specialty regardless of the policy definition. Let me know if we can help further.

 

[PistolPete]

I have own occupation disability insurance and I think it's worth it. Once I'm financially independent, I can drop it. Until then, it's worth every penny for me.

 

[Vandalia]

I understand what everyone is saying but what I find difficult to see is a scenario in which I am so disabled that I couldnt be a psychiatrist but could continue to work as a night parking lot attendant. In all likelihood I would be totally disabled if I could not perform my duties as a psychiatrist. Perhaps someone could give me a scenario in which I couldnt perform my duties as a psychiatrist but would be able to work some other menial job? Thanks.

Substance abuse causing the loss of your medical license. I know a former surgeon in exactly that situation who receives disability benefits. However, that started 20+ years ago. But of course you need to make sure that is in fact a covered condition.

 

[FlowRate]

Substance abuse causing the loss of your medical license. I know a former surgeon in exactly that situation who receives disability benefits. However, that started 20+ years ago. But of course you need to make sure that is in fact a covered condition.

I think that's a common rider in disability insurance for MD's in certain specialties (psychiatry, anesthesia, some others.)

 

[MD Financial Services Scott]

About 1/2 of the carriers in the market today put a 24 month M/N limitation on their policies, others you can get it but within the PSY and a few other specialties it does get very narrow....1 carrier maybe 2 would allow unlimited, just depends on the state you then live in.

 

[MD Financial Services Scott]

I'm a psychiatric APN. I'll make well over 200k this year. I have an own occupation rider with MetLife. It's not terribly expensive, and I would foresee "disability" resulting from the psychological stressors of the work considering the volume off work I have to do to make this income (a separate matter of contention). Add in "previous trauma," from myriad stressors, threats, deaths, violence, etc, and it made sense to me to buy the policy.

The essence of an own occupation rider is to cover your long-term disability from your own occupation. I could go into academics and teach mislead nurses and graduate students or change careers entirely (my budding interests in cybersecurity for example or sack groceries at the Brookshires) and receive $7700/yr until I retire. This would be in addition to anything I was making from work.

That is the way that own occupation rider is supposed to work. My point was you might have a hard time convincing MetLife that you are unable to do your job but yet still have the skill set to do the other occupations you mentioned since many of those skill sets will be overlapping. For those that have a procedural based specialty then their inability to have certain motor skills can easily put them out of their specialty even though they might transition to another occupation without negative impact to their disability benefits being paid. The own occupation rider only costs 10-20% depending on the company and it certainly tightens up the contract so one should buy it if it makes them feel better.

 

[SpongeBob DoctorPants]

I used to think the same way about psychiatry but ended up deciding to purchase disability insurance. Think about it this way. If you get injured or have some illness that prevents you from being able to work full time, or being able to see as many patients as you normally do, can you afford to lose that income? Let's say you get into some kind of accident and end up with chronic pain that limits your ability to sit at your desk for more than a few hours each day. Can you afford to drop your income by 50% or more? I pay around 2-3% of my income to protect 100% of my income. Sure, that's a few thousand dollars out of my pocket every year, but it provides reassurance that I can maintain my standard of living until retirement.