Summary Of Arkansas Specific Policy Features*

Percent More or Less than Average Premium

  • Male: -0.79%

  • Female: 2.83%

Policy Options from All of the Big Five Companies:

Yes

Unisex Policies Offered

No

*The information on this page is accurate as of the date this page was created, September 2021.  Policies and discounts vary by individual circumstances. For information on your specific options, please consult with one of our advisors.

Being an actively-working physician in Arkansas means you are one of less than 4,000 physicians in a state with more than 3 million residents; that means there is only one physician for every 750 Arkansas residents. As a physician in a state with few physicians, it’s extremely important that you protect your financial stability as much as you protect your health and family.

History of Arkansas Health and Medicine

Arkansas has long had a reputation for its low quality of health. Prior to the 21st century, the state lost many of its residents to diseases like tuberculosis, smallpox, scurvy (vitamin C deficiency), yaws, dysentery, and typhoid fever. In the 19th century, Arkansas medical education split into three main venues:

  1. Apprenticeship: an established physician agreed to mentor and teach a student for a period of time.

  2. Proprietary school: each doctor is taught the subjects they knew best and students were required to purchase tickets to certain lectures.

  3. University medical school: allopathic physicians learned from books and lectures to take “heroic” measures of therapy to change patients’ symptoms.

At the turn of the 20th century, the foundation of modern medicine began to be established with better organizing and medical licensing. With the increase in industrial sectors, physicians were put on retainer at large corporations and some companies even developed emergency stations for physicians to work at. It was in 1926 that the Arkansas Children’s Hospital was established for physicians to provide healthcare for children. As the professionalization of medicine increased, so did the founding of medical institutions: state mental health treatment centers, schools for the deaf and blind, and other institutions were created to help educate physicians.

The quality of healthcare in Arkansas has fluctuated in recent years, with low rankings of resident health; a high percentage of residents without health insurance; and high rates of people with obesity, smoking, and sedentary lifestyles. There are currently 3,872 active physicians in Arkansas among seven different specialties, the main ones include:

  • Surgery: 365

  • Psychiatry: 363

  • Radiology: 360

  • Emergency medicine: 353

  • Cardiology: 210

  • Oncology: 139

  • Endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism: 40

  • All other specialties: 1,715

As a physician in Arkansas, it’s vital that you protect yourself in your industry with disability insurance.

What is Physician Disability Insurance?

Physician disability insurance is the key to obtaining optimal financial security. It’s the kind of insurance that provides income benefits when you are unable to work because of an injury or illness. Your career and income are dependent on your ability to perform your required duties.

There are a variety of types of physician disability insurance that provide you with different levels of financial protection. Short-term disability insurance typically replaces 50–80 percent of your income for the 3–6 months you have coverage and covers disabilities such as:

  • Back injuries

  • Arthritis

  • Vehicle accident injuries

  • Childbirth

  • Illnesses

On the other hand, long-term disability insurance normally replaces your income until you are age 65 and provides an untaxed 60 percent of your annual gross income. Long-term disability insurance is much more valuable because it covers catastrophic types of disabilities that could disable you for the rest of your career. Covered long-term disabilities include:

  • Childbirth complications

  • Multi-stage cancer

  • Vehicle accident injuries

  • Bone breaks

  • Musculoskeletal disorders

  • Mental health disorders

How Pattern Helps You

How does Pattern fit into this? Well, it is our mission as an independent agency to look out for your best interests. We focus on providing both the educational resources to help you understand physician disability insurance and the expert support to guide you through the policy-finding process. There is a simple 3-step process to working with us, which includes:

  1. Filling out a simple quote request form

  2. Comparing your policy options from the Big 5 Companies

  3. Completing a short application to begin your chosen policy

For details on how physician disability insurance can help you, visit our Beginner's Guide to Disability Insurance.