3 minute read
When thinking of customization you think of cars, homes, your iPhone home screen. Clearly, physician disability insurance policies are not the first thing to come to mind. However, your policy is very customizable. There are many important pieces of a policy that you can customize. Here are 5 pieces we feel are MUST-HAVES on your disability insurance policy as a physician.
If you take anything away from this article let it be this. As a physician, surgeon, doctor, or any other medical professional, the single most important thing to secure is a true own-occupation disability insurance policy.
True own occupation is the definition of disabled according to your policy. It is so important because it sets apart good policies for doctors from those that should be avoided.
There are currently only 5 companies that provide this type of fully comprehensive coverage for doctors. These companies are known as the Big 5.
Read more about the different definitions of disabled.
Read more about the Big Five companies.
In order to help simplify the process of comparing your options for disability insurance policies as a doctor, we compare all your quotes from each of the Big Five companies.
Get your quotes from these companies here.
We always recommend securing your physician disability insurance policy early in your career. After you purchase your policy it is likely that your income will increase. Which is where the future purchase option comes in.
A future purchase option is an additional rider that you add to your policy. This rider lets you keep the option to increase your benefit without having to worry about going through the process of getting a whole new policy.
It allows you to increase your coverage, based on your increased income, without going through any medical underwriting. It basically guarantees you the right to increase your coverage regardless of what happens to your health over time.
Read more about other riders you can add.
All long-term disability insurance policies have an elimination or waiting period to receive the benefit. The most common elimination period is 90 days, but it can range from about 60 days to 365 days.
This waiting period means that you must be disabled for the specified length of time before the policy will begin paying your benefit.
If you choose a shorter elimination period, it will increase the cost of the policy. This feature on your policy is a personal choice and is different for everyone. If you’re more open to some risk, choosing a longer elimination period is one way to save some money on your premiums.
If you choose a longer elimination period, make sure that you’ve got enough in your emergency savings fund to cover your expenses until your benefits kick in!
Discounts are a great way to save on your premiums for your physician disability insurance policy. There are many options specifically for physician disability insurance policies.
The most common discounts are training program discounts, unique employer discounts, multi-life discounts, mental nervous discounts, and many more. These discounts can save you 10-40% on the lifetime of your policy.
The best way to see which discounts you qualify for is by filling out a quote request and comparing your options.
Get started with your discounted quotes here.
One very important detail that many physicians overlook is the cancelation portion of their policy. Your policy must have a non-cancelable rider.
This makes sure that the disability insurance companies can’t raise your premiums as long as you are paying them.
This ensures that your premiums will be locked in to help save you money in the future.
Sometimes the non-cancelable rider is included within your policy. However, if it is not included you can add it on as a rider similar to must-have #2.
Read more about non-cancelable policies here.
Customizing your physician’s disability insurance policy can look different for every medical professional. However, these 5 features are must-haves for you specifically as a physician.
If you are ready to get started with the best disability insurance policy for you, fill out a quote request here!