Percent More or Less than Average Premium
Male: -0.79%
Female: 2.83%
Policy Options from All of the Big Five Companies:
Yes
Unisex Policies Offered
No
*The information on this page is accurate as of the date this page was created, September 2021. Policies and discounts vary by individual circumstances. For information on your specific options, please consult with one of our advisors.
Are you a physician who practices medicine in Arizona? If so, you are one of almost 10,000 active physicians among more than 7.1 million residents. One of the most important steps in your medical career should be establishing proper security for your future to ensure your finances are taken care of in case you become disabled. At Pattern, our mission is to provide physicians like you the support, tools, and information to help you as you establish this financial security.
Currently, the composition of Arizona’s economy is moderately diverse, although the largest sectors include transportation, the government, and health care. Education and Health Services are the second largest sector to provide the most jobs in the state with almost 460,000 employees; seven of the largest private employers in Arizona were in the healthcare industry.
For almost 100 years, Arizona has been on the forefront in the healthcare industry. In 1928, the Arizona Public Health Association was created as a response to a Public Health and Sanitary Conference at the University of Arizona. When the Community Mental Health Act was signed into law in 1963, Arizona was one of few states that established a model for mobile units to work with first responders when providing coordinated responses to mental crises. In 1994, The Arizona Partnership for Immunization was started in order to raise the percentage of fully-immunized children in the state; it saw an increase of 43 percent in 1994 to 75 percent by 2021.
As of 2021, there are 9,687 active physicians from a variety of specialties in Arizona, including:
Emergency medicine: 1,162
Anesthesiologists: 1,021
Surgery: 991
Radiology: 905
Psychiatry: 895
Oncology: 271
Endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism: 108
All other specialties: 3,802
First of all, do you have a clear understanding of what disability insurance is for doctors? As an important factor for financial security, physician disability insurance is a type of insurance that provides income in the event that you are unable to work due to an injury or illness. Your disability could be from a long-term illness to a disabling accident, which could take your career and financial stability.
It’s important to know the difference between the two main types of disability insurance: short-term and long-term. Short-term disability insurance generally covers physicians between 3–6 months, replaces up to 80 percent of your income while you’re covered, and covers disabilities such as:
Back injuries
Arthritis
Childbirth or maternity leave
Vehicle accident injuries
What happens if you have a serious illness or injury that prevents you from working longer? Long-term disability insurance normally covers you until you’re 65 years old, replacing your income if you can’t do your job duties for an extended period of time. The goal of long-term disability insurance is to replace your take-home pay prior to your disability, which can include a variety of catastrophic issues including:
Cancer
Mental health disorders
Vehicle accidents
Bone breaks
Musculoskeletal disorders
Most employers will provide some short-term disability insurance as part of their benefits package when you get hired. Unfortunately, any income you accept from their policy will be taxed, unlike the income you would receive via an individual plan from one of the Big 5 Companies that provide physician disability insurance.
Additionally, employer disability insurance policies are not true own-occupation insurance policies and are non-transferable. True own-occupation is a policy definition that pays you your full benefit amount if you can’t perform your specific job duties but can still be employed somewhere else. Are you a surgical oncologist with a mental health disorder disability? With true own-occupation, you can collect your full benefit payments and still work as a medical oncologist.
If you don’t have a disability, but decide to move to a different employer before the end of your medical career, you would no longer be insured through your old employer’s policy and it’s likely you will have a more expensive premium under the new employer’s policy.
If you’ve decided to get physician disability insurance, Pattern is here to help you in your process. Our expert support staff is highly experienced in finding the best policies for physicians and we guarantee to keep you informed of the entire process. Read Chapter 7 of our Beginner's Guide to Disability Insurance to learn how we can help you get started on the simple 3-step process!