Guardian Disability Insurance Brokerage

Physician Disability Insurance

Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America is the number one non-cancellable individual disability insurance policy in the country*. Physicians can obtain an own-occupation definition of total disability with medical specialty language built into the contract. It is one of a few carriers in the market to have medical specialty language built into the policy. If you have limited your occupation to the performance of the material and substantial duties of a single medical specialty, Berkshire Life will consider that specialty to be your occupation.

Many carriers offer own-occupation, but very few offer own-occupation disability insurance to physicians with medical specialty language built into the policy.

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Why Buy A ProVider Plus Disability Insurance Policy?

While an own-occupation policy is very important, it may not be the most important part of a policy for you. There are several features to the ProVider Plus policy that make it one of the most comprehensive disability insurance policies a physician can own. We believe the residual disability benefit rider, which offers a recovery benefit for up to the entire benefit period, just may be as important as the medical specialty own-occupation definition of total disability.

Berkshire, unlike most of their competitors, has a residual disability benefit rider with a recovery benefit payable for up to the entire benefit period, after you recover from a disability. Because there is no loss of time or duties requirement, this rider can pay you up to the end of the benefit period until you financially recover from a disability, not just until you physically recover so long as you continue to experience at least a 15% loss of income solely because of sickness or injury. As a physician, if you were disabled for a year, it may take years before you financially recover. You should own a disability insurance policy that can continue to pay you until you financially recover from a disability.

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Protect Your Business As Well

The first step should always be to protect your personal income with an individual disability insurance policy. If you own a practice, then you also need to worry about your business. Berkshire offers physicians an Overhead Expense disability insurance policy that will help reimburse deductible business expenses during a period of disability. This policy will help to make sure you have a practice to return to after you recover from a claim, and you may be able to deduct the premiums for this policy 100%.

If you have partners in the business, you should also make sure that your buy-sell agreement has a provision for total disability. That provision should also be funded with a Disability Buy-Out insurance policy, making certain that there is capital available should you or one of your partners become totally disabled and unable to continue practicing medicine.