Purchasing A Disability Insurance Policy As A Healthcare Professional

It is essential that healthcare workers maintain disability insurance, but simply carrying insurance is not adequate protection: it is vital to choose the correct coverage. A recent study indicated that at least 51 million working adults in the United States don’t have comprehensive disability insurance. The purchase of disability insurance may be a new and challenging effort for many – made all the more complex when you encounter industry jargon. Below are the basics: what you should know about financial protection as you choose a disability policy. 

What healthcare workers should know about disability insurance

• Own-occupation disability insurance coverage

This type of coverage protects you in the event that you can no longer perform all of the duties associated with your particular specialty, and thus will provide benefits even if you were to find a new job that your disability will allow you to do. A true own-occupation policy provides healthcare workers with the maximum amount of protection. Should a surgeon, for example, suffer from a disability or illness that will no longer allow the surgeon to perform surgery, but allows that physician to consult or teach, the former surgeon would still be eligible to collect benefits if he or she has own-occupation insurance.

• Disability riders

Riders allow you to customize your policy for maximum coverage. Here are the most popular disability policy riders:

• • Student loan rider: If you have student loan debt, this modification to your policy will automatically make payments towards your student debt during the time that you have an active disability claim.

• • Cost of living adjustment: Your disability benefit can be increased during the time that you have an active disability claim, if an increase is warranted by a rise in the Consumer Price Index.

• • Future purchase: This option allows you to “lock-in” insurance now and gives you the opportunity to purchase additional coverage at a later stage of your life, when you are likely to be earning a higher income. This is an important option for individuals who buy a disability policy while they are still in med school or in their residency, but who can anticipate future substantial earnings from their profession.

• • Retirement protection: This rider allocates funds to a trust while you have an active disability claim. The trust will then pay out during retirement, to compensate for retirement funds that might not have been earned and set aside during a period of severe illness or disability.

Disability insurance is too often overlooked, but healthcare professionals need to obtain this coverage in order to protect themselves and their families. It is more likely that an unforeseen illness or injury will suddenly affect a healthcare worker’s income than that the professional will die unexpectedly. If you are a healthcare professional and you want to avoid the long-lasting repercussions on your finances caused by any unexpected injury or illness, disability insurance should be part of your financial plan.

To speak with one of our professional consultants about disability insurance for healthcare workers, get in touch with medtigo today.