Last week we put the American Academy of Family Physicians (A.A.F.P.) to the “test” – comparing the physician disability insurance product offered through this association against high-performing private disability insurance. In this final post of the series, we’ll cover two more recurring topics presented from respected magazines, such as Medical Economics, Private Practice, Money Magazine and Consumer Reports.
(As a highly organized community of over 100,000 members across the United States, the A.A.F.P is able to offer its members several valuable benefits. Some of these benefits include discounts for life insurance, auto and homeowner insurance, practice overhead insurance and disability insurance among others. While many of these reflect great discounts for a quality product, it is important for physicians to be particularly cautious in regards to the disability insurance they decide to purchase. Read the first post in our series that covers two more topics, here.)
3. Is residual (partial) disability covered without requiring prior total disability days?
A.A.F.P. Plan Brochure – IF you return to work AFTER having been TOTALLY DISABLED for at least 30 consecutive days, AND your income-earning capacity has been diminished by as little as 25%, you may receive what are known as residual benefits.
A.A.F.P. Plan Fails this Test Requires satisfaction of waiting (elimination) period with total disability days first. Note: Long-term partial disability without prior total disability will not receive a benefit from A.A.F.P. Also, this plan does not take affect until a 25% reduction of income is reached, as opposed to a 15% reduction.
4. Is a recovery benefit included? Once you recover from a disability but continue to lose income, does your benefit continue?
A.A.F.P. Plan Brochure – To be considered disabled, the disability must occur while you are insured under the policy AND you must be under the regular care of a licensed physician (other than yourself or immediate family/household member) during the period of disability.
A.A.F.P. Plan Fails this Test Benefits will end when you are released from your physician’s care even though income loss continues while you try to rebuild your practice.
Suggestion: Ask an MDDisabilityQuotes.com representative to review your current coverage. Policy reviews/updates/additions are common in the doctor disability industry. Even if you would like to run your policy through the “test” – whether it is a Group, Association or Individual disability insurance policy – we perform free policy reviews and quotes.
Your most valuable asset is the ability to go out everyday and earn a living. Protect this asset with the best disability policy available to you.
