If you’re in the process of buying physician disability insurance, you probably have questions about what’s considered a total disability.
Keep reading to learn what you need to know about total disability in terms of your physician’s disability insurance plan.
Total Disability
First, it is important to understand that every physician’s disability insurance policy has its own definition of what “disability” means. Several insurance companies’ definitions tend to be relatively similar, but each is nuanced in its own right.
With that said, total disabilities are debilitating and longer-lasting disabilities. If you suffer a total disability, you are unable to work in your own occupation. Depending on the language of your policy, you may also be unable to work in any occupation—taking your training, education, experience, and financial situation into consideration.
Total Versus Partial Disability
Although you might meet the definition of total disability under the terms of your insurance policy, your insurance company may try to classify you under the partial or residual disability provision in order to reduce the monthly disability payment you get.
What exactly constitutes total disability versus partial disability depends on the facts and circumstances of each claim. But there is a threshold that crosses over from partially disabled to totally disabled, such as when a surgeon stops performing all surgeries or the most significant surgeries that made up his or her practice.
Many people believe that you must completely stop working before you could be considered totally disabled under your insurance policy, but that is not always the case. This is especially true for physicians who have own-occupation disability insurance.
The Benefits You’ll Receive
If the insurance company deems that you have a total disability, either temporary or permanent, the amount of the benefits you’ll receive will most likely be based on the amount identified in your disability insurance policy if you have individual disability income insurance. For those with a group disability insurance policy, your benefit amount is a fixed percentage of your average wage.
We’re Here to Support You
Suffering a life-altering disability is not an easy thing to go through, but it can be even harder to endure without the benefits you need. Our attorneys here at Dabdoub Law Firm are highly skilled in physician disability insurance law and have helped many other people in similar situations obtain the benefits they needed when they needed them most. Let us see if we can help you, too. Don’t delay—contact our office with your case right away.
Call Dabdoub Law Firm today at (800) 969-0488 to speak with an attorney about your case.
