Disability Insurance for Physicians and Dentists
Aldrich Benefits partners with the industry leaders in physician group insurance, MGIS, to offer physicians a comprehensive income protection plan uniquely designed for physicians and dentists. MGIS currently serves over 25,000 physicians nationwide. These specialized contracts are focused solely on the specialties of physicians and dentists and Aldrich Benefits dives into the real reason these partners make sense for you – contract strength, namely in the definition of duties.
The definition of duties goes beyond the Specialty and Sub-Specialty definitions offered by many disability policies and instead defines the duties as actual procedures performed by the physician over the last 12 months prior to disability. This means that rather than have your day-to-day work as a highly-specialized provider generically lumped into a nationwide average, your disability contract would protect you from being unable to perform your actual duties.
Equally important to Aldrich in our selection of disability carrier partners is what is not in their contract. Aldrich requires our carrier partners to remove all managing disability provisions that are standardly found in most other physician disability contracts. Aldrich believes that if a physician is capable of working, they will, and that the physician themselves is the best at determining that capability to work. Aldrich encourages insurance partners to focus on replacing lost income as opposed to managing the disability. All Aldrich-reviewed contracts omit the following managed disability provisions:
Self-Reported Limitations
Chronic fatigue, musculoskeletal and connective tissue conditions, chemical or environmental sensitivity, among others. If Self-Reported Limitations are in force, the benefit is limited generally to 24 months for any one of these conditions unless hospitalized.
Maximum Capacity Language
By far one of the most subjective provisions found in disability contracts, this gives insurer the right to reduce the benefit amount, or outright deny it, if determined the physician is not working to “maximum capacity” based on claims information received.
40-Hour Work Week Provisions
These provisions state that if capable of working 40 hours per week, even if on average you work in excess of 40 hours per week, you will be considered capable of performing your regular duty and not disabled.
Mandatory Rehab Contract Language
This language can cause considerable issues with physician groups in particular. Insurers may identify certain disability claimants as being “good candidates” for their return to work vocational rehab program participate in their entire program or risk losing benefits.
Part-Time Work Language
This requires physicians to work part-time if the insurer believes they are capable to do so. If the physician fails to take up part-time work, benefits will be terminated.
Foreign Residency Restrictions
These state that if a physician spends more than 6 or 12 consecutive months (depending on the contract) outside of North America, the insurer will cease to pay benefits.
Ensure Your Income is Protected
Aldrich Benefits partners with insurance carriers to design a policy from the ground up as an IDI supplement plan for physicians, not as a traditional group LTD plan to provide the maximum protection for providers and their families.
MGIS calls their proprietary contract features incomeprotect®. For a brief overview, watch their video on the available benefits.
Meet the Author
Evan Cole partners with his clients to advise and assist them with their employee benefit plans, specializing in group and association plans. Prior to joining Aldrich, Evan was a top producing employee benefits representative for one of the nation’s largest life, disability, and dental carriers. He holds licenses for life and health in the states... Read more Evan Cole
Evan's EXPERTISE
- Employee benefits
- Leave management
- Self-funding
- Ancillary benefits
- Small group
- Large group
