Group Disability vs. Individual Disability Coverage

We wanted to educate and help physicians and their families understand the difference between Hospital sponsored Group disability insurance and owning an own occupation specific individual disability policy.  There are many misunderstandings with regards to a group disability policy and how much you are truly covered in these types of plans versus having a supplemental individual policy.  We have created a side-by-side comparison of a Hospital group disability policy versus owning an individual physician specific policy, please click the link below: 

Group Disability vs Individual Disability Coverage

• Group DI may include a limited own occupation definition that reverts to “any” occupation after a few years out on claim. This is often after 2 years.
• Group has the potential for a reduction of benefits owed due to a benefit offset like worker’s compensation received or a federal social security disability.
• Group may only consider base salary. This could easily leave commissions and bonuses unprotected for the purpose of benefit eligibility.
• Group tends to have minimal partial disability coverage, which may only be available when recovering from a total disability rather than as an initial claim.
• Group offers age banded rates that increase over time,  with no guarantee relating to the future pricing since the plan can be altered.
   

Ultimately, the biggest advantage of group is a very low premium due to the nature of the one size fits all contract being offered to a large number of people, but it is still tied to that employer. Individual coverage is portable and is guaranteed to renew if the client pays the premium. This is why you will often see people with employer provided policies also protecting themselves with an individual policy. This helps fill the gap on top of the group policy and safeguards against potential changes or removal of group policy in the future (or if they leave the employer).

Please contact Frank Corto at fcorto@cortofinancial.com or call our office at 717-747-0000 to get started.  We also have a link below to get a no obligation quote from all 5 major carriers including the Ameritas GSI program.  Simply click the link and complete the 5 peices of information we need to get started.