Summary Of Hawaii 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.

Known for its fertile soil and unique tropical climate, Hawaii comprises more than 100 volcanic islands over 1,500 miles. The Hawaii islands were formed by volcanic activity instigated at an underwater magma source called the Hawai’i Hotspot.

Over the centuries, Hawaii has grown considerably in population and size. The U.S. state covers an area of almost 6,500 square miles of land mass and 4,500 square miles of water area, with almost 1.5 million residents. Hawaii has also significantly improved its health care over the years. In 2009, their state health care system insured 92 percent of residents and under the state’s order, businesses are required to provide insurance to employees who work more than 20 hours per week.

In the same healthcare system are less than 2,000 active physicians from a variety of specialties including:

  • Psychiatry: 281 active physicians

  • Emergency medicine: 217

  • Anesthesiologists: 193

  • Radiology: 165

  • Surgery: 159

  • Cardiology: 73

  • Oncology: 42

  • Endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism: 20

  • All over specialties: 684

Why You Need Comprehensive Disability Insurance

As a Hawaiian physician, you deserve an even better income security plan than your state’s health care system. This means getting a comprehensive physician disability insurance policy, which we also cover in Chapter 2 of our Disability Insurance Guide. The most popular types of disability definitions are true own-occupation, transitional own-occupation, and modified own-occupation.

As the most comprehensive definition, true own occupation pays you your full benefit if you can’t perform your specialty, but can be employed elsewhere. This means that if you work with the radiology specialty and become injured while hiking on a trail, you may qualify for disability and collect your full disability insurance benefit, all while still working in an area separate from your specialty.

Employer vs. Individual Disability Insurance

As you read above, businesses are required to provide insurance to employees who work a certain number of hours in a week. As an active physician, you very likely meet those qualifications. While having health insurance through your employer can be both wonderfully convenient and a lifesaver, getting disability insurance through your employer is a completely different situation and should be avoided.

There are four major downsides to getting physician disability insurance through your employer:

  1. Employer policies are not true own-occupation. In fact, most employer policies will have an any-occupation definition. This means that regardless of the severity of your disability, you’re only considered disabled if you can’t work in any occupation that you could reasonably be suited for based on education, training, or experience. Under an individual disability insurance policy you will collect your full insurance benefit and still be able to work somewhere else.

  2. Employer policies are taxable. If you happen to become disabled and can’t work anymore, then any income you collect from your disability insurance will be taxed. This will leave you with considerably less than your current take-home pay and won’t be able to work anywhere else because of your any-occupation definition.

  3. Employer policies are non-transferable. If you decide to move on from your current employer, you won’t be able to take your employer’s disability insurance policy you’ve paid into for 3 years. This would be different if you had individual disability insurance, which you will have regardless of the number of employers you have had over the years.

  4. Your employer can cancel or change your policy at any time. When you get a disability insurance policy through your employer, they will have complete control over the policy. This means if your employer wants to modify or cancel your policy around when you get badly injured from a hill climb, you may not be able to collect any of the disability insurance benefits you’ve spent years paying for.

Let Pattern Help

At Pattern, we’re dedicated to providing you with the expertise and resources needed to fully understand and obtain comprehensive physician disability insurance. For details on how Pattern can help you find the best policy for you, read our Beginner’s Guide to Physician Disability Insurance.