Percent More or Less than Average Premium
Male: -5.76%
Female: -2.31%
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.
For physicians in Delaware, it’s vital that they have the necessary investments into their financial security, as much as they’ve invested into their medical education or careers. But what does it mean to have necessary financial securities in place?
If you are one of the active physicians within the state of Delaware, this page is for you. You are one of 1,645 physicians from a variety of specialties including:
Emergency medicine: 239 active physicians
Radiology: 187
Surgery: 169
Psychiatry: 167
Anesthesiologists: 109
Cardiology: 108
Oncology: 61
Endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism: 14
All other specialties: 591
Delaware is one of the least populated states in the U.S., with almost 991,000 residents living across 1,982 square miles. With a 1 to 602 physician-to-resident ratio, it’s more important than ever for physicians to protect their future with disability insurance for doctors. I’m sure you’ve heard of disability insurance before, but do you know how it affects doctors?
The primary benefit of physician disability insurance is that your income is replaced in the event that you become injured, sick or some other qualifying form of disability and can’t perform your specific physician duties.
In fact, there are several disability insurance policies available to you where you if become too disabled to perform your job, you can collect your monthly policy benefits and still go work somewhere else. These policies are called true own-occupation policies and Chapter 2 of our Beginner's Physician Disability Insurance Guide is dedicated to learning about them.
For physicians, the definition of their disability insurance contracts is the most important part of the entire contract. To be clear, there are several different types of disability definitions including:
True own-occupation
Transitional own-occupation
Modified own-occupation
Any occupation
By far, true own-occupation is one of the most valuable definitions. As we mentioned above, true own-occupation pays you your full insurance benefit if you can’t perform your specific specialty or physician duties, but decide to get employed somewhere else.
For example, if you are a neurosurgeon with true own-occupation disability insurance and you become disabled. While you may not be able to continue your work as a neurosurgeon, you can work as a general surgeon or a university professor of surgery, still be considered disabled, and get your full benefit payout.
Now that you understand the benefits of getting physician disability insurance, you may be considering just calling your employer and signing up for a policy through them. As convenient as that may seem, here is why you avoid employer disability insurance plans:
Employer policies are typically not true-own occupation. Most employer policies are any-occupation, a very restrictive disability plan which means you’re only considered disabled if you can’t work in any occupation that you could be considered suited for based on your education, training, or experience.
Employer policies are non-transferable. Say you make 8 years' worth of payments to your employer’s disability insurance policy and then decide to work somewhere else. You won’t be able to transfer your policy to the new employer and thus lose out on all the money you put into the policy for 8 years.
Employer policies are taxable. Unlike individual disability insurance policies, employer policies are taxable. This means in the event that you become disabled and begin accepting benefit payments from your employer-driven insurance policy, any amount you receive will be taxed, leaving you with less take-home pay.
Your employer can cancel or change your policy at any time. Since your employer owns your disability insurance policy, then they also have complete control over it and can cancel or change it at any time. Imagine how inconvenient it would be if they canceled it right after hearing about your car accident or injury, and you won’t be able to collect any disability benefit payouts.
At Pattern, our goal is to provide you with the resources and expertise needed both to fully understand physician disability insurance, but also to find the best policy for you. As an independent agency, we don’t have any affiliation with any of the Big 5 Companies and are only looking out for your best interests.
When you work with Pattern, we work with you to complete 3 simple steps:
Request your quotes: you fill out a quote request form, and we submit it to each of the Big Five Companies
Compare your options: you review and compare your five quotes. Your Pattern support team will be there to guide you through the policies, answer your questions, provide examples, and make sure you have a clear understanding of each policy.
Apply and buy: after you’ve made a decision, we will help you complete and submit a short application. From there, we will handle the insurance paperwork and get your income insured.
For frequently asked questions about physician disability insurance, visit Chapter 8 of our Guide to Disability Insurance!