Three Reasons Physicians Don’t Insure Their Income (But Actually Should)

A physician’s ability to work and earn an income is most likely his or her most valuable financial resource. With a 25% chance of becoming disabled before retirement, disability insurance is a vitally important way for physicians to replace a portion of their income if he or she can’t work for several months or more due to a disability. So why do so many medical professionals not have disability insurance?

Below you will find some of the top reasons many don’t have disability insurance, but should:

1. I can’t afford it.

In reality, you can’t afford to not have long-term disability insurance. With most Americans having less than six months of savings and the average disability lasting 34.6 months, uninsured physicians could be left strapped for cash while also having to recover from a surgery, illness, or injury. Also, the fact that many young physicians begin their careers with significant student loan debt can make a loss of income due to a disability even more financially devastating.

2. I’m young and healthy and a disability will never happen to me.

With one in four of today’s 20-year-olds¹ experiencing a disability before retirement, it’s important for all ages to get covered. Disabilities don’t discriminate by age – any working adult could experience a catastrophic accident, depression, cancer, or any other common disability.

3. Workers comp and social security will have me covered if I become disabled.

Even if your place of employment has workers’ compensation insurance and you’ve been paying into Social Security during your years of practice, there’s a good chance these won’t be enough. The majority of long-term disabilities are not work-related, and therefore not covered by workers’ compensation. And even if your disability can be attributed to the workplace, claims can be denied or significantly delayed in paying out benefits. As for social security, the average monthly benefit is on average only $1,165 per month³. Could your family live on only $1,543 per month?

Now that you have a better understanding of the importance of protecting your income with long-term disability insurance, you’ll be in a better position to consider the options available to you as a benefit of your membership. From there, you can enjoy greater peace of mind as a physician. Protect the practice you’ve worked so hard to build, shop for your disability insurance policy today.