No nonsense. No hard sell. We are simply here to educate and advise. Digest and decide on your own timeline.
Disability income insurance is one of the only financial products you may not always be able to get, as coverage eligibility is based on age and health. As a healthcare provider, you understand the importance of protecting your income in the event of sickness or injury, and we’re here to assist you in your research on this topic.
Below you will find some answers to FAQs. However, the terminology around the different policy riders can be confusing, and what’s right for you will depend on specialty, so we encourage you to connect with us for 10-15 mins to briefly walk through the various companies/quotes. We can explain what things mean and what may be more or less applicable to you.
You can request a quote right here or simply reach out and we can obtain the information needed by phone or email. We look forward to helping you gather information, no matter what your timeline is for implementing this.
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Frequently Asked Questions
- Experience—We have helped hundreds of physicians in all specialties obtain coverage with all major carriers, for the past 10 years
- Doctor/Dentist focus—We only work with physicians and dentists
- We save you time—You don’t need to talk to multiple companies/agents. We do a thorough apples-to-apples comparison of plans offered by the major carriers
- We’re not pushy—We’ll explain and advise and then let you review and make decisions on your own time. No hard sell.
- Doesn’t cost you anymore to work with us—you pay the same rate whether you work with us or go to the insurance companies directly.
- Group LTD
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- Policy is tied to the employer and almost never portable if you change jobs
- Rates can change at any time
- Policy verbiage can be changed or canceled at any time by the insurance company
- For instance, it may not be.
- The policy definition of total disability may be limited. For instance, it may not be OWN-OCCUPATION or only own-occupation for first 2 years, then switch to ANY-OCCUPATION
- Group disability is often offset by other types of disability benefits or income you receive if you choose to work in another occupation
- Benefits/Claim payouts are taxable if the coverage is paid for by an employer. Many employees assume 60% of coverage is adequate, when in reality that amount is about 40-45% of salary after-tax. Benefits/claim payouts can be further reduced (offset) by related payments from workers’ compensation, or by income you receive if you choose to work in another occupation
- Group disability benefits typically only cover base salary, not bonus
- There often is no adjustment for inflation if disabled long-term
- Individual Disability Insurance
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- Benefits are tax-free when you pay the premium
- Fully portable- can take the coverage anywhere- new employer, new state, etc § Rates are locked until age 65
- Own occupation is available and highly recommended
- Coverage terms/definition/verbiage cannot be changed prior to age 65
- Ability to cover all sources of earned income, not just salary
- There are two primary factors when determining premiums: age and health. The cost of waiting can lead to higher premiums or less coverage, as rates become exponentially more expensive. The biggest risk of waiting is the potential of becoming critically ill or experiencing a sickness/injury before coverage is in place. Younger the better.
- The most valuable asset for a young physician is his or her ability to earn.
- Policies can be changed or canceled at any time
- Policies may have limited a definition of disability resulting in fewer claims
- Premiums increase every few years as you get older (not fixed)
- Premium schedule can be changed at any time
- Cost ends up being higher, and unpredictable long-term
- Policy riders (cost of living adjustment, future increase options, coverage for partial/residual disabilities, etc.)
- Ratings/financial strength of the insurers
- Language/definitions within the contract (how is disability defined? What is excluded?)
- Policy features (benefit period- e.g. 90 days to age 65 and of course amount of coverage relative to your income)
- Once the ideal carrier(s) have been selected, we then need to determine if you’re eligible for coverage with them
- We connect with you by phone for 5-10 minutes to collect information for the application, which we can then pre-fill for you. You can review, sign, and submit electronically
- Medical exams aren’t always necessary for disability insurance applications, but if one is required, they are of no cost to you and our office will work with you to set up a convenient time for a nurse to see you at home or work.
- The application, medical history questionnaire, and labs (if applicable) are then submitted to the insurance company/companies for review
- Once you’re approved, we connect again to review the options again and decide on the final specifications of the coverage (You do not need to be fully decided on this at the time of application!)
- You don’t need to have seen a physician recently to qualify for coverage. The insurance company will often work with available medical records.
- If you’re concerned about a medical condition impacting your application, we would do what’s called an ‘informal inquiry’ before formally applying. This would allow us to check with all carriers to see who will view things most favorably. Generally it involves answering a set of specific questions regarding the history.
- It’s possible the insurance company may want to exclude the condition from the policy if they make an offer.
- Long-term disability benefits typically begin after 90 days of disability, so do not cover standard maternity leave. But if there’s a complication, the policies will typically start paying after 90 days.
- The one important consideration to note is that if you already pregnant when applying, there will likely be an pregnancy exclusion on the policy because technically it’s a ‘pre-existing condition’. Once you have delivered your baby and have returned to work, you can apply to have the exclusion removed.
- An 'own occupation' policy will define total disability as a condition that prevents the insured from performing the substantial & material duties of his or her regular occupation (specialty), even if able to work in another occupation. 'Any occupation' will simply define total disability as being unable to work in any occupation.