In this episode, I share the common reasons why a medical professional would need to purchase an Own-Occupation, Specialty Specific Disability Insurance Plan. I discuss why you should protect your income with one of the 'Big 6' Disability Insurance Carriers. This episode covers most of the common questions physicians ask of my team while visiting The White Coat Investor's website and/or conferences. This should supplement any information that is gathered from visiting that site or forum.
Whether you are a physician, dentist, or another medical professional, this type of insurance will protect against the inability to work due to an illness or injury; while allowing you to collect an income from another source.
This allows to you double-dip and collect both an insurance check after a disabling event PLUS allows you to keep any other income sources that may be available to you. This is typically the opposite of what is found inside your employment benefit disability insurance. Those are often limited to 5-years of coverage and offsets, reduces or eliminates your benefits if you are disabled and able to work in any other job.
Own-Occupation plans can layer over the group plans you have through your jobs and are portable. We dive into why these are so important for you to have on your own.
Typically we recommend you purchase your ‘Own Occupation’ plan while you are young and healthy. By doing so, you can rate lock your plan, be able to buy more coverage as an attending regardless of your risk factors, and have no exclusions on your policies.
Today we discuss:
I hope you enjoy the material! Thank you for tuning in!
In this episode, I share the common reasons why a medical professional would need to purchase an Own-Occupation, Specialty Specific Disability Insurance Plan. I discuss why you should protect your income with one of the 'Big 6' Disability Insurance Carriers. This episode covers most of the common questions physicians ask of my team while visiting The White Coat Investor's website and/or conferences. This should supplement any information that is gathered from visiting that site or forum.
Whether you are a physician, dentist, or another medical professional, this type of insurance will protect against the inability to work due to an illness or injury; while allowing you to collect an income from another source.
This allows to you double-dip and collect both an insurance check after a disabling event PLUS allows you to keep any other income sources that may be available to you. This is typically the opposite of what is found inside your employment benefit disability insurance. Those are often limited to 5-years of coverage and offsets, reduces or eliminates your benefits if you are disabled and able to work in any other job.
Own-Occupation plans can layer over the group plans you have through your jobs and are portable. We dive into why these are so important for you to have on your own.
Typically we recommend you purchase your ‘Own Occupation’ plan while you are young and healthy. By doing so, you can rate lock your plan, be able to buy more coverage as an attending regardless of your risk factors, and have no exclusions on your policies.
Today we discuss:
I hope you enjoy the material! Thank you for tuning in!
NOTE: This podcast was transcribed by a free AI transcription tool called Otter. Please forgive any typos or errors.
Amber Stitt 0:00
In this physician edition podcast episode, we'll discuss all things own occupation, do you really need an own occupation disability insurance contract. Hope this will help you find out please enjoy. Hello, and welcome to the amber Stitt show. I am your host, Amber Stitt, and I'm obsessed with helping people get their financial and personal lives in order.
I'm excited to share the insights and habits that my business partner and I have cultivated throughout our careers so that we can help you on your journey towards a happy, successful, and fulfilling life. This is our physician's edition, where my business partner Scott and I share all the insurance fundamentals to help you go from feeling overwhelmed to feeling competent and competent with your insurance contract selections. Our physician edition podcast episodes were originally produced as YouTube videos, and you can find these on the MD disability quotes YouTube channel. Let's jump right into today's episode.
The two questions that I always get are Do I really need Own Occupation, and then when should I buy this coverage? My goal in this video is for you to understand the fundamentals. So you can decide for yourself the basics of The Own Occupation contract, it allows you to collect a check if you work in another job, but you're disabled in your specialty, it's also portable, it provides a great lock, it also provides a health history lock, it provides a way for you to increase your coverage as an attending. And it does not offset any of the other group insurance that you might get through an employer.
Let's put this in perspective in two different ways.
Let's say you're a resident, you're in training, you're young and you apply for your plan, you get a rate lock because you were approved. And you also had a future increase writer because you were healthy enough to do so. So this plan is going to be yours, the approval will stay locked in, and your rates will be rate locked. So this base contract will not change. It'll follow you throughout all of your training to attending status, and then you keep it as long as you would like to keep the contract in place. This is a standalone product. So this is going to follow you throughout your career, it'll be guaranteed to renew each year as long as you keep making your payments. So please know I'm not talking about discount deadlines here or costs, I truly want you to understand these contract types, so that you buy them when the time is right for you.
Because you understand it not because you feel pressure because of a deadline or any discounts. And then you see the benefit of transferring risk away from yourself or transferring risk away from your family. So let's cover another example of how this could work. So let's use me as an example. Let's say I'm a resident, I'm a PGY one and I buy my plan, I was healthy enough to get an approval. So my rate lock began, my health history is protected, which means you have a future purchase option on your contract because you were healthy enough to be eligible for one. Now, if I were to develop something like an autoimmune disorder, let's say I have MS in the future, and I take my medication, I'm otherwise healthy, I am working full time, I am then able to buy more coverage as an attending, let's say, later on, I want to increase my plan, I'm allowed to do so as long as my income supports it. This is because I have a future purchase option on the contract. So this is why it's very important to buy this at a younger age when you're at your healthiest point because anything else that may cause a risk factor to the insurance company, they can't decline you from future coverage when the time is right to buy more.
Finding the right plan for you 3:49
Alright, if you're still not convinced whether or not you need to buy a plan, let's dive into these three points. When should you buy this plan? Who to buy it from? And then what kind of contract definition would make sense for you. So as we cover this, at the very end, we'll bring up some group contract details. And that'll help you decide whether or not you want to layer one of these plans over any employer-sponsored coverage. When should you buy this plan? Obviously, you've heard to buy this at the youngest age while you're healthy. It's true though because the factors for the code are based upon your age, your gender, your state of residence, your specialty, and then depending upon what benefits and writers that you want to buy. So the sooner you have your plan, the sooner your base contracts going to be rate locked. For example, the state of California has usually higher rates. So we want to pay attention to the different variables so that you're setting up your base contract at a rate lock that's best for you. So to be eligible for a future purchase option, we really need no pre-existing conditions that are of high risk, often pre-existing conditions are going to be excluded. So a lot of times you could have A nice offer but still, have a couple of exclusions pop up. So we would like to avoid that the best way to do so is to apply while you're young and healthy. And a second point would be who to buy these contracts from. So just like anything else, we might do some shopping online, do some rate comparisons, I might go on Amazon, and target and look at my options, and then see who's going to give me the most efficient delivery. So I think the same applies to the team that you pick for your ongoing service. So maybe working with a couple of brokers, as you're shopping that are showing you all six of the Big Six will be helpful so that you can then identify the costs, the type of plan that you want, and then Who do you want to be working with over the next 510 years of your career? I think that's important. Also ask them, how will they help you in the future? Can they work in different states as you maybe move from state to state? And then also, are they offering the type of meeting mode that you prefer?
Do you like video calls? Do you like texting, phone call only?
Make sure that they can accommodate your schedule and meet with you as you prefer, you're going to want a team to be able to service your needs over the next 5-10 years of practice.
Okay, so we talked about when to buy this coverage, who to buy it from, and then we need to pick your contract type. As I mentioned before, we have a lot more detail in the physician guide below. And we'll cover the three definitions at a high level now at this point. Alright, so most of you hear about your Own Occupation, it may be called True Own-Occupation, some of the definitions that you'll read, and then you'll also come across regular occupation. As long as you're looking at one of the big six, you'll find in the proposals, they all have a similar sentence, there's a variation of it stated as to be totally disabled, you must be unable to perform the material substantial duties of your occupation, even if you're gainfully employed. So they all share this variation of the sentence, you want to make sure this is included, this writer is included in your contract. Alright, so this sounds great to you by this rider, but how does this work in real life? So if you have to go on claim, you will have to have your physician deem you disabled. But then we also have to look at what are the material duties at the time of claim. So the way this works at claim time your physician records are going to be important, what are they stating? Are you disabled, and then what are your material duties, a way that they can find this out is your employment contract billables CPT codes, this is going to defined your specialty or sometimes you'll have a blended specialty depending upon your scope of duties or your subspecialty. So it's very important to make sure that's very clear and that you can produce this information, it is very possible you apply for this plan young and healthy. And then years later and a completely different job because of fellowship training, you have a whole different scope of duties. Now at this point, that is okay, that's what this writer is for it, they will check what are the material duties at the time of claim. And that is how they define who you are at the time of claim. With that Own-Occupation
Other Contract Types 8:09
The rider that's going to let you double dip and collect a full disability benefit, plus any other income source that will be okay, you'll be able to collect on both. So next definition is own specialty and not engaged, not engaged, meaning you're not working. So this is very common in group contracts where you are disabled and you're not working. If you choose to work because the choice is yours to work. This could shut off the benefits. There are some other definitions that will only pay a proportionate benefit. If you're disabled from your specialty and working in another job.
If you pick up your Own-Occupation, you won't have to worry about if I can work how much can I work? And how much income Am I making as a disabled physician own occupation, we'll cover all the bases, the own specialty and not engaged is going to be problematic because you're just not able to tell the future what could disable you and what other opportunities could you have to earn an income in order to collect on this insurance benefit. He must be disabled and not working at all. You can always contact your HR to find out what you have. You can contact them by emailing or giving them a call. You can ask them whether or not you have a free disability benefit. What percentage of your salaries and insurance benefits and is your benefits taxable if it's employer-sponsored, and you do receive it, it's usually taxable. And then also, you can check on their offsets. Will this shut off if you're disabled and working? So that'll help you do a quick review to find out what kind of contract you have at your job.
The third definition is "Own Specialty and for a limited time. This one can be pretty interesting because if you're disabled and you're able to work in any other job, you might be allowed to do so for up to 25 Four months after that 24 month period, then sometimes there's a provision that says if you can work in some reasonable occupation, and you choose to not do that, they can reserve the right to turn off your benefits. So again, a way to avoid this being an issue for you is to layer on an Own-Occupation plan on top of any group coverage that might be offered at your job. And then you won't have to worry about what if, if disabled, what other opportunities are out there. And if you're actually able to work while being disabled.
Thanks for joining me on this quick tour of contract definitions and when to buy coverage, who to buy it from. And hopefully, you decided that Oh, Nike patient is the right choice. If you need any assistance with the policy review, let us know, let us know if you have any questions or if there's anything else that would be helpful to you, as you go about your disability insurance shopping. When should you buy this plan, who to buy it from, and then what kind of contract definition would make sense for you? So as we cover this, at the very end, we'll bring up some group contract details. And that'll help you decide whether or not you want to layer one of these plans over any employer-sponsored coverage. When should you buy this plan? Obviously, you've heard to buy this at the youngest age while you're healthy. It's true, though, because the factors for the code are based upon your age, your gender, your state of residence, your specialty, and then depending upon what benefits and writers that you want to buy. So the sooner you have your plan, the sooner your base contracts going to be rate locked. For example, the state of California has usually higher rates. So we want to pay attention to the different variables so that you're setting up your base contract at a rate lock, that's best for you. So to be eligible for a future purchase option, we really need no pre-existing conditions that are of high risk, often pre-existing conditions are going to be excluded. So a lot of times, you could have a nice offer, but still have a couple of exclusions pop up. So we would like to avoid that the best way to do so is to apply while you're young and healthy. And a second point would be who to buy these contracts from. So just like anything else, we might do some shopping online, do some rate comparisons, I might go on Amazon and target and look at my options and then see who's going to give me the most efficient delivery.
So I think the same applies to the team that you pick for your ongoing service. So maybe working with a couple of brokers, as you're shopping that are showing you all six of the Big Six will be helpful so that you can then identify the costs, the type of plan that you want. And then who do you want to be working with over the next 510 years of your career? I think that's important. Also ask them, how will they help you in the future? Can they work in different states as you maybe move from state to state? And then also, are they offering the type of meeting mode that you prefer? Do you like video calls do like texting phone calls, only make sure that they can accommodate your schedule and meet with you as you prefer?
Summarizing and Questions to Ask Yourself 13:09
Thanks for joining me on this quick tour of contract definitions and when to buy coverage, who to buy it from. And hopefully you decided that own occupation is the right choice. If you need any assistance with the policy review, let us know let us know if you have any questions or if there's anything else that would be helpful to you as you go about your disability insurance shopping. Okay, so we talked about when to buy this coverage, who to buy it from and then we need to pick your contract type. As I mentioned before, we have a lot more detail in the physician guide below. And we'll cover the three definitions at a high level now at this point. Alright, so most of you hear about own occupation, it may be called True own occupation, some of the definitions that you'll read and then you'll also come across regular occupation. As long as you're looking at one of the big six, you'll find in the proposals, they all have a similar sentence, there's a variation of it stated as to be totally disabled, you must be unable to perform the material substantial duties of your occupation, even if you're gainfully employed. So they all share this variation of the sentence you want to make sure this is included. This writer is included in your contract. Alright, so this sounds great, you buy this writer but how does this work in real life? So if you have to go on claim, you will have to have your physician deem you disabled but then we also have to look at what are the material duties at the time of claim. So the way this works at claim time your physician records are going to be important. What are they stating? Are you disabled? And then what are your material duties? A way that they can find this out is your employment contract billables CPT codes, this is going to defined your specialty or sometimes you'll have a blended specialty depending upon your scope of duties or subspecialty. So it's very important to make sure that's very clear and that you can produce this information, it is very possible you apply for this plan young and healthy. And then years later, in a completely different job because of fellowship training, you have a whole different scope of duties. Now at this point, that is, okay, that's what this writer is for it, they will check what are the material duties at the time of claim, and that is how they define who you are at the time of claim with that own
Conclusion 15:27
occupation rider, that's going to let you double dip and collect a full disability benefit, plus any other income source that will be okay, you'll be able to collect on both. So next definition, his own specialty and not engage not engaged, meaning you're not working. So this is very common in group contracts where you are disabled and you're not working, if you choose to work, because the choice is yours to work. This could shut off the benefits. There are some other definitions that will only pay a proportionate benefit. If you're disabled from your specialty, and working in another job. If you pick up Own-Occupation, you won't have to worry about if I can work how much can I work? And how much income Am I making as a disabled physician? An Own-Occupation will cover all the bases, the own specialty and not engaged is going to be problematic because you're just not able to tell the future, what could disable you. And what other opportunities could you have to earn an income in order to collect on this insurance benefit, you must be disabled and not working at all. You can always contact your HR to find out what you have, you can contact them by emailing or giving them a call, you can ask them whether or not you have a free disability benefit, what percentage of your salaries and insurance benefits and is your benefits taxable if it's employer-sponsored, and you do receive it, it's usually taxable. And then also, you can check on their offsets and will this shut off if you're disabled and working. So that'll help you do a quick review to find out what kind of contract you have at your job. The third definition is his own specialty, and for a limited time, this one can be pretty interesting because if you're disabled, and you're able to work in any other job, you might be allowed to do so for up to 24 months after that 24 month period, then sometimes there's a provision that says if you can work in some reasonable occupation and you choose to not do that, they can reserve the right to turn off your benefits. So again, a way to avoid this being an issue for you is to layer on an Own-Occupation plan on top of any group coverage that might be offered at your job. And then you won't have to worry about what if disabled, what other opportunities are out there. And if you're actually able to work while being disabled. Thanks for joining me on this quick tour of contract definitions and when to buy coverage, who to buy it from. And hopefully, you decided that Own-Occupation is the right choice. If you need any assistance with a policy review, let us know if you have any questions or if there's anything else that would be helpful to you as you go about your disability insurance shopping. We'll see you in the next video. Thank you. Thank you for joining us on today's episode of the amber Stitt show physicians edition. For more information about this podcast books, articles and more, please visit me at Amber stitt.com. For more information about physician insurance contracts, please listen to the entire physician edition podcast series or visit us at MD disability quotes.com. Thank you for listening
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Thank you again for joining me, Amber Stitt, in this episode of The Physician's Edition. I’ll see you next time, podcasters!