Disability insurance, individual policy

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What individual disability insurance policies have graduating dermatology residents bought in the past? I know different providers can be better for different specialties. As I understand, the main companies for physician disability insurance are Guardian, Mass Mutual, The Standard, Ameritas, Metlife, and Principal. I know a few dermatologists who have Principal. Any advice?

 

[LBKCLU]

All of the companies that you listed are the ones to consider. Principal works very well in terms of cost vs. benefits - especially for female physicians where a multi-life discount is available. This can provide a savings of 40-50% off of the normal female rates. The same is true for all purchases made under the Future Benefit Increase (FBI) or Benefit Update (BU) Riders - even if you no longer have any affiliation with the hospital in which you did your residency.

You might find this article that I wrote for the AAD to be informative http://www.physicianfinancialservices.com/files/7760/YPF_Summer07[1].pdf

Additionally, you can also read several of my disability insurance contributions to www.whitecoatinvestor.com by using the links below:

http://whitecoatinvestor.com/comparing-disability-insurance-policies-part-1-of-2/
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/comparing-disability-insurance-policies-part-2-of-2/
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/updates-in-the-disability-insurance-marketplace/
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/updates-in-the-disability-insurance-marketplace-part-2/
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/updates-in-the-disability-insurance-marketplace-part-3/
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/updates-in-the-disability-insurance-marketplace-part-4/
http://whitecoatinvestor.com/updates-in-the-disability-insurance-marketplace-part-5/

There is other information about most of the carriers in the comments section of these, as well as, other disability insurance related posts.

Hope this helps.

 

[Balderdash]

Those are good reads on the links from the above poster. I went with guardian but the top companies are pretty similar. Some of the best unbiased discussion about disability insurance (and most financial matters) can be found by searching the forums at bogleheads.org

 

[LBKCLU]

Berkshire (Guardian) works well for Dermatologists. Their policy also covers disabilities related to mental and nervous conditions in the same way as any other accident or illness. The same is true for MetLife's Income Guard and Omni Advantage (in states where the Income Guard is not yet approved) policies, as well as, Standard Insurance Company's Protector Platinum policy (not in CA, FL or VT). However, in VT, even the "old" Protector+ policy has full coverage from mental and nervous conditions.

Berkshire also upgraded Dermatologists a few years ago (including Mohs Surgeons) to their 4M (non-surgical, non invasive) occupational classification for premium rate purposes.

Depending upon income potential, these days, it is also quite common to combine at least two companies to reach a potential monthly benefit of $25,000-$30,000 (between the base policy and increase option) doing only one exam, blood test and urine test. This is much higher than any one company's limit of $15,000-$17,000 month.

 

[MD Financial Services Scott]

What individual disability insurance policies have graduating dermatology residents bought in the past? I know different providers can be better for different specialties. As I understand, the main companies for physician disability insurance are Guardian, Mass Mutual, The Standard, Ameritas, Metlife, and Principal. I know a few dermatologists who have Principal. Any advice?

Once you have the Macro features the same (waiting period language, benefit period, definition of occupation, and residual) with the companies you are looking at then it really comes down to price...look around as there are major price differences between companies and agents.

 

[MD Financial Services Scott]

What individual disability insurance policies have graduating dermatology residents bought in the past? I know different providers can be better for different specialties. As I understand, the main companies for physician disability insurance are Guardian, Mass Mutual, The Standard, Ameritas, Metlife, and Principal. I know a few dermatologists who have Principal. Any advice?

Really it depends on the age, gender, medical specialty, and age of residency as to which carrier will bring the best cost per unit of coverage. Just be sure to get one that has a true own specialty definition that does not reduce your benefit if you do become disabled and change your medical specialty or occupational field. Let us know if we can be of service.

 

[OCA-Peter]

...look around as there are major price differences between companies and agents.

This is sort of true... but not really. The pricing is set by the insurance company (ie Principal, Guardian, Standard, etc...) so pricing "should" be the same across agents/companys... but like you said its often not.

Here are some reasons why the price would vary from agent to agent:

• Your quotes aren't accurate - The company you got quotes from didn't collect enough information and your quotes aren't accurate. This happens A LOT. The agent will give you this amazingly low price so you decide to go with him/her, but after underwriting your price goes way up b/c the agent didn't ask the right questions (mostly about your health and current job status).
• The policy they quoted you is missing features that physicians need/want - Physicians are different than the general public and have different DI (disability insurance) needs. It is common for agents to tell you "oh, you don't need that feature". Its often because that agent doesn't work with a lot of physicians and may not really know what they are talking about.
• They don't have discounts that other agents do - Many agents don't do a lot of DI business. This means they don't have access to certain discounts that another company has. Its important to note that the discounts DO NOT vary. If agent-1 has the discount and agent-2 has the discount, the price should still be the same for both agents. There aren't "super secret special" discounts that only one company has over the others.

My advice, find a couple companies that can quote you all of the (big 6) true own-occupation (Standard, Principal, MetLife, Guardian, MassMutual, Ameritas) insurance companies and get some quotes. Ask if they work with physicians (or are physician only companies).