Even if you’re not one of the 18,938 Resident Physicians and Fellows who graduated from medical school in 2016, you might be too busy during your residency to think about disability insurance. But that would be a big mistake, especially since your student loans won’t pay themselves off if you become disabled down the road. As founder of InsureStat, endorsed by and preferred provider of Disability Insurance for Top Hospitals, Mensh and the rest of the InsureSTAT team look forward to helping you protect your future.
“InsureSTAT was instrumental in helping me secure quality disability insurance through their experience in the field and dedication to their customers.”
Dr. John Shields
Department of Orthopedics
Protect Your Income with Resident Disability Insurance
If you are a resident or fellow who is wondering if you should purchase disability insurance, here are the facts. As of August 2019, there are 140,391 active resident physicians and fellows across all specialties in the U.S. With upwards of 30,000 GME students entering the workforce every year, nearly every student (regardless of specialty) has one thing in common: massive student debt.
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), median medical school debt was over $195,000 for 2018 graduates–and that doesn’t include undergraduate debt. You may be counting on your earning potential to get those student loans paid down quickly, but it may be a while before your full income comes to fruition. What’s more, if a situation were to occur where you cannot practice, disability insurance for medical residents can help to provide peace of mind that your income is protected.
Disability insurance is particularly beneficial for residents, fellows, and physicians who are just beginning their careers and burdened by student loans. The younger the insured is when a policy is purchased, the lower the cost. In addition, purchasing early means it is fixed for your entire career and can be transferred across states.
Check out our free online disability insurance quote tool to get an idea of the cost and benefits of the best resident disability insurance policies.
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Should Residents Get Disability Insurance?
Here are a few quick statistics about disability that should help to provide context as to why resident disability insurance can play an instrumental role in protecting against income loss.
For Women
- A typical American female of working age who leads a healthy lifestyle has a 38 percent chance of becoming disabled during her working years.
- Her chances increase to 41 percent if she smokes or is overweight.
- She has a 38 percent chance of being disabled for longer than five years.
- The average length of the disability is 82 months.
For Men
- A typical American male of working age who leads a healthy lifestyle has a 21 percent chance of becoming disabled during his working years.
- His chances increase to 45 percent if he smokes or becomes overweight.
- He also has a 38 percent chance of being disabled for five years or longer.
- Average length of the disability is also 82 months.
Just by the very nature of the occupation, doctors are more susceptible to developing a disability. Back pain, anxiety, depression, not taking care of your own health and high blood pressure, in addition to the stress of the job, are all factors that increase the risk of developing a disability and losing income.
How Much Will This Cost You If You Become Disabled?
Your earning potential as a physician will depend on multiple factors, such as location, specialty, type of facility and patient demand. The median yearly salary for physicians across the board is $196,250. A few of the most populous types of physicians can expect median earnings to be:
• $194,00 for Family & General Practitioners
• $207,000+ for Surgeons, Internists and Immunologists
So if you were to become disabled for 82 months (the average amount of time), you could expect to lose $1,341,041 in income while disabled. How will you replace a figure that large?
How Disability Insurance Can Help?
Disability insurance can provide you with monthly income replacement for the duration of your disability. Unlike regular health insurance, disability insurance doesn’t just pay out one payment to your health care provider per medical treatment and leave you to figure out the rest of how you’ll survive until you heal. With disability insurance, you’ll receive a monthly payment that you can use to cover life’s expenses, like groceries, transportation and utility payments.
Qualifying for Resident Disability Insurance Benefits
Typically, before a resident physician or fellow can purchase resident disability insurance coverage, they’re required to undergo a review of income and a full medical history, including a blood and urine test. The underwriting of the policy can be very strict for disability insurance due to the length of time the carrier must insure the buyer — usually to age 65 or 67. And rates may differ based on gender, putting female resident physicians and fellows at risk for higher rates.
The team at InsureSTAT is equipped with over 50 years of experience in physician and resident disability insurance, and we’re ready to help you navigate the process and select the best plan for your needs. Get started now with a free online disability insurance quote.
Best Disability Insurance for Resident Physicians
When shopping for the best disability insurance for resident physicians, look for a comprehensive policy with relevant riders catered to your specific situation and income. It can be overwhelming to navigate policies without the help of a trained professional, like someone from the InsureSTAT team. However, there are two very important elements that are essential for protecting your current and future income as a medical resident at the start of your career.
Own-Occupation Disability Insurance
Own-occupation disability insurance policies cover individuals in the event of total disability. If a physician is unable to perform the material duties of his or her occupation, an own-occupation disability insurance policy provides income protection regardless of the ability to earn income doing something other than your trained practice.
For example, should an orthopedic surgeon not be able to operate due to an accident or illness, policies that include own-occupation or own specialty occupation riders will allow for full benefits to be paid to the insured even if they can do office orthopedics and earn income. We highly recommend that most doctors, physician assistants, dentists, nurse anesthetists, and others in the field secure individual disability insurance with an own-occupation rider to protect their trained specialties.
Future Increase Income Protection
As a young physician or medical professional, incomes typically rise substantially over the first five years in practice or employment after training is complete. Drastic rises in income can leave you underinsured without proper oversight of your resident disability insurance policy. In order to ensure your policy is commensurate to your rising income, it’s critical to review your policy’s monthly benefits annually to lock in the fullest amount available.
Each time a benefit is secured, we can guarantee that cost annually for as long as the insured wishes to keep the policy (typically to age 65 or 67). It’s incredibly advantageous to accept increases in benefit at a younger age to keep premiums as low as possible. By including “increase options” that either allow for annual review and increase or required review every three years, increasing benefits is easy. With an “increase option” in place, will only require proof of income and current employer provided benefit details to determine new eligible amounts and pricing. There is no medical review necessary for any future increase benefit options.
Additionally, under most plans, resident discounts can carry over to newly increased benefits. However, not all policies are created equal, so we always advise working directed with the InsureSTAT team to help review and secure the ideal resident disability insurance policy for your unique needs.
Are you ready to learn more about resident disability insurance? We work with the nation’s best carriers to provide our customers with the best disability insurance for resident physicians. Get your free online disability insurance quote today.
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Individual Disability Insurance
Disability Insurance is designed to replace lost income in the event of a disabling condition from illness or an accident. Typically, most insurance companies will allow the insured to protect up to 60% of their pre-disability earned income and pay monthly benefits to age 65, 67, or even 70. InsureSTAT works with you to determine your monthly benefit eligibility, supplement your employer provided protection or increase to become more fully insured from within an older policy already in force.
Danny Mensh is the CEO of InsureSTAT, the leading online provider of Disability Insurance for Physicians, Nurses and Physician Assistants.
