Best Disability Insurance for Physicians in Florida

You rely on your income to fund every aspect of your life. If an illness or injury prevents you from working, the last thing you want to worry about is how to continue paying your bills without an income.

Considering many physicians have a lifestyle dependent upon a certain level of income and may have ownership in a practice, even a relatively minor accident or illness can interfere with their ability to practice medicine or perform surgeries, which in turn affects their financial well-being. 

What is Disability Insurance?

  • Disability insurance replaces income if you’re too sick or injured to work.
  • Disability insurance can supplement long-term disability coverage that you may have through your employer.

How does Disability Insurance for Physicians In Florida work?

 

For an individual policy, you must apply for coverage, be accepted and begin making payments to be covered for long term disability insurance.

Individual Disability Policy

When you buy an individual disability policy, you own it for as long as you pay the premium. The amount you pay is generally locked in. It will not change unless you opt for more coverage.

Individual plans are also portable. You don’t lose coverage by changing jobs or dropping your group membership.

Individual insurance gives you more carrier options. And by adding riders, you can tailor your policy to specific needs.

Many professionals supplement group coverage with an individual policy.

Guaranteed Issued Disability Insurance for Physicians

There are specialized and often rare high-end disability programs that can fill the income gaps left by standard policies.

When examining coverage options one of the most advantageous features of the program is it can be guaranteed issue. This means that when two or more doctors are obtaining this disability insurance together, they may be able to waive the medical underwriting. Other important features of this program include: High coverage amounts, definition of total disability, residual or partial disability, recovery or transition benefits, benefit period, future increases and lump sum benefits.

Here are some of the basic definitions used in Long Term Disability insurance contracts: 

Occupation Class – Insurance companies use their own discretion to sort occupations into a handful of classes based upon expected risk. Rates, and sometimes policy terms, are different for each class. The lowest class includes all occupations that are not eligible for coverage.

 Conditional Coverage – If the applicant pays a premium when applying for coverage, he or she will receive interim coverage during the underwriting period subject to the terms and conditions of the conditional receipt. 

Insured – The person or company covered by the insurance. 

Definition of Disability – How an insurance policy defines when the insured is totally or partially disabled or not. 

Exclusions – Specific conditions which will not be covered under the policy. 

Non-Cancelable and Guaranteed Renewable – A type of disability policy where the insurer cannot change the policy terms or premiums as long as the insured pays the scheduled premiums. 

Guaranteed Renewable – A policy type where insurer cannot change the policy terms (but can change premiums) as long as the insured pays the scheduled premiums.

The most important first step any physician must take when beginning the process of selecting an individual disability insurance policy is educating themselves about the various inherent differences between each contract.

Unlike term life insurance, which has a few obvious variables in which to analyze, disability insurance contracts, even within the same company, can have significant differences in how they pay you for a claim.

Most reputable contracts will offer “own occupation” definitions of disability which pay a claim if you cannot work in your specific occupation – not just any occupation.

However, not all own-occupation definitions are the same, and understanding the subtle yet important differences between each contract is critical to selecting the correct policy as a physician.

Do You Need Disability Insurance?

The greatest investment you have made is in your training.

The greatest financial asset you will probably ever own is the return on that investment: your career income.

Protect your most valuable asset with true, own-occupation physician disability insurance.

Mintco Financial Disability Insurance for Physicians in Florida
Get a free Disability Insurance HERE!

Call us 813-964-7100

info@mintcofinancial.com