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The most important part to a disability insurance contract is the
definition of total disability. The definition of disability is
how the insurance company bases what qualifies as a disability,
and what doesn't. For a medical doctor specializing in Oncology,
this definition is paramount.
Berkshire's ProVider
Plus disability contract classifies Oncologists as an occupation
class 4p. This means that all Oncologists will receive a true
own occupation definition of disability for the life of the contract,
including Berkshire's graded lifetime benefit extension. The advantages
of this definition to an Oncologist are that he or she will not
be forced back to work in another job if they can no longer work
as an Oncologist. In fact, Berkshire's definition of disability
protects your actual specialty.
A true specialty specific definition of disability is the best
choice for physicians in the oncology field, since it protects
their income in the specialty that they have spent years learning.
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Residual Disability Insurance Benefit - Partial Coverage & Unlimited Recovery Benefit
A very important aspect of any disability insurance policy is
the residual benefit rider. Since a disability is not always total
in nature, it is imperative that the contract cover partial losses
of income. In these situations, the disability insurance policy
should pay the insured a percentage of their benefit based on
their loss of income. For example, if an Oncologist was only able
to practice 40% of the time due to a disability, and therefore
was only billing for 40% of the procedures that they had before
the disability, they would most likely have a loss of income.
If we assume that loss to be 60% , they should receive a monthly
benefit of 60% of the total amount, or $6,000 per month (assuming
a total monthly benefit of $10,000). (Note: Actual situations
may vary)
Provider Plus disability insurance pays residual benefits a little
different than most other companies. First, there is no requirement
that the insured have a loss of time or duties in order to receive
a benefit. For an Oncologist, this can be a major benefit. As
any physician will tell you, it takes way too long to get paid
by a patient's medical insurance for procedures that are performed.
If an Oncologist performs a procedure and then bills the patient's
medical insurance, it might take several months to finally get
paid on that procedure. Now, if a disability took this physician
out of work for a year or two, it is likely that they would have
a period of time upon their return to work, where their income
was much lower then before they were disabled. In these cases,
many insurance companies will not pay any benefits because the
physician is back at work full time and performing all the functions
of their job. Even though their income is much lower than when
they left, they will not be getting paid by the insurance company.
With the ProviderPlus contract, an Oncologist who returns to work
full time and still suffers a loss of income will continue to
receive a monthly benefit.
After the first six months of residual benefits, most policies
pay benefits strictly proportionate to the income loss for the
particular month in which you claim a residual benefit. We, however,
pay based on the average income loss of the proceeding six months.
This approach can provide substantially greater benefits to you
when you have returned to work and are rebuilding your earnings.
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