With odds as great as these, the chance that you could be left with a long-term disability is not untenable, and it could leave you financially devastated. Now is the time to protect your earning potential by selecting and purchasing a good disability insurance policy. Lock in policy provisions. Once you purchase an individual, non-cancellable, guaranteed renewable policy, the insurance company cannot cancel, increase the premiums, change any provisions or add restrictions to the policy. Therefore, once you own a policy with liberal definitions and contract provisions, you are guaranteed that it will remain that way, even if the issuing company no longer offers similar policies in the future.
Insurance companies base their rates on several factors, including age.
Additionally, at least one company currently offering disability insurance places emergency medicine residents in a higher occupational class than practicing emergency physicians. This classification allows residents to qualify for a policy with more liberal definitions at a lower premium cost. Protect your insurability Buying a policy when you are healthy has many advantages. The earlier that you secure coverage, the less likely any future deterioration in your health will affect your ability to purchase a policy. Protect future earnings in advance When working with residents, I often hear two objections to purchasing a policy during training.