Doctors and medical professionals have always been the primary consumers of private disability insurance.
They see the consequences of disability firsthand every day as they treat sick and injured patients. In addition, many doctors are dependent on their ability to perform special procedures to maintain their income.
That’s why physicians need a true own-occupation (own occ) specialty definition of total disability built into their disability insurance policies. Essentially, this type of policy language defines a “total disability” as the inability to perform the material and substantial duties of your regular occupation due to injury or sickness. For physicians, this is determined by a review of their current procedural terminology (CPT) codes, which report medical, surgical, and diagnostic procedures.
For instance, suppose an orthopedic surgeon suffers a hand injury that prevents him or her from performing surgery and conducting pre-op and post-op office visits. Under a true own occ definition of total disability, that orthopedic surgeon would be considered totally disabled and eligible to collect 100% of the monthly benefit. Moreover, that surgeon would remain eligible for the full benefit regardless of any other income. He or she could teach, pursue a different medical specialty, or change careers entirely and still collect the full benefit, even if the new job pays the same or more than the surgical job.
The power of true own occ is that it takes power away from the insurance company and provides the insured person with both income protection and flexibility. For more information about these policies as well as tips on talking to physicians about disability insurance, see our brochures below, contact us, or give us a call at (203) 226-4077.
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