Why Should An Internist Choose Guardian's Policy^*?

Doctors have made Guardian a market leader for more than 20 years now. Guardian jumped to the top of the disability insurance industry in the late 1990s because they were one of the last remaining companies to offer a true own-occupation disability insurance policy to physicians. Today over half of their business is sold to members of the medical community, quite frankly the Provider Choice policy being sold today was designed with physicians in mind.

The Most Comprehensive Own-Occupation Definition a Doctor Can Get

There are many features and optional riders in a personal disability insurance policy, but the most important feature is the definition of total disability. This definition determines whether or not you collect your total monthly benefit when you are sick or injured. Many "Own-Occ" policies have similar language, but Guardian^* adds the following provision specifically for physicians into the policy. They will consider you totally disabled if more than 50% of your income is from hands-on patient care and, solely because of injury or illness, you can no longer perform hands-on patient care.

If you don't qualify for benefits under the source-of-earnings formula above, then they will look at your key duties, including those you were performing in your medical specialty at the time disability began to assess whether you qualify. If you are eligible for total disability benefits under either scenario you can then choose to be;

• Gainfully employed in another occupation full time full-time 
  or
• Not gainfully employed

The bottom line is Guardian's^* Provider Choice policy has the best definition of total disability an internist can own. Not only does it have the true own-occupation base definition, but it also adds more ways to qualify than our competitors with language designed specifically for physicians.

The Preferred Occupation Discount

We mentioned above that Guardian^* has a lot of experience with selling disability insurance policies to doctors of internal medicine. The good news is they want your business, and now offer a 10% discount to encourage you to purchase a Provider Choice policy. If you request a proposal from the calculator below, this discount is built into the rate already.

Special Limits for New Internal Medicine Doctors

Most of our clients purchase their first disability insurance policy at the end of their residency, or in their first year of private practice. In either scenario, we design those plans in a way to keep the premiums down until you are more financially established. Your plan would utilize a graded premium schedule to keep the costs down for a few years until you can convert it to a level premium. Guardian knows your income is going to increase in the future, so they are willing to offer the following options now;

• Residents - You can choose any monthly benefit up to $5,000 a month. If you are within 12 months of private practice, you can use the 1st-Year physician limits below.
• 1st-Year Physician - You can choose any monthly benefit up to $6,500 a month.

No income verification is required in either scenario and when you work with our agency we will access our database of available discounts to make sure you obtain every possible discount you can. The discounts are not built into the disability insurance calculator, but your assigned agent will be able to update your proposal for you.

^* Individual disability income products underwritten and issued by Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America (BLICOA), Pittsfield, MA. BLICOA is a wholly owned stock subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), New York, NY. Product provisions and availability may vary by state.