Written By Caitlin See
Updated on February 25, 2024
Long-term disability insurance protects your income if you have a long-term injury or medical condition. But the best disability insurance for physicians carries a true own-occupation definition of disability, with the strongest income protection for your medical or dental specialty.
You won’t generally find comprehensive coverage through your employer benefits or a professional association group plan. Instead, you’ll need to shop around for an individual disability insurance policy to supplement your existing coverage.
The “Big 5” disability insurance carriers offer individual disability policies with a specialty-specific definition of disability — distinguishing themselves from other companies providing disability and life insurance products.
Best physician disability insurance companies for physicians
Guardian, MassMutual, Ameritas, The Standard and Principal make up the “Big 5”. These disability carriers offer varying levels of own-occupation coverage to fit your needs and a suite of optional policy riders to further enhance your coverage.
Here’s an overview of key details for each carrier offering the best disability insurance for physicians.
| AM Best rating | BBB rating | Elimination period | Maximum monthly benefit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guardian | A++ (Superior) | A (Not BBB Accredited) | 30 days | Up to $20,000 |
| MassMutual | A++ (Superior) | A (Not BBB Accredited) | 60 days | Up to $20,000 |
| Ameritas | A (Excellent) | A+ (Not BBB Accredited) | 30 days | Up to $20,000 |
| The Standard | A (Excellent) | A+ (Not BBB Accredited) | 60 days | Up to $30,000 |
| Principal | A+ (Excellent) | A+ (Not BBB Accredited) | 60 days | Up to $30,000 |
Disability insurance is a highly customizable financial product. What’s best for one person won’t necessarily be what’s best for the next. Reach out to an independent insurance broker to discuss your existing coverage and tailor a policy to fit your financial needs.
SLP Insurance works with dentists and medical professionals to connect you with the best own-occupation policy with the top discounts available. If you want a quick quote, fill out the form below. Otherwise, keep reading to see what makes each of the best disability insurance companies for physicians stand out.
Get the best price on own occupation disability insurance
SLP Insurance will find you the best price even if it's not with us. Fill out the form below to get discounts of up to 30%.
Guardian: Best for financial strength ratings
Why we chose it: Guardian consistently receives high marks from financial rating agencies. Its COMDEX ranking (a composite score averaging ratings from agencies such as AM Best, Fitch, Moody’s and S&P) is 100, the highest score available.
Other stand-out features include:
- Four tiers of own-occupation coverage, including options that allow you to work in another occupation while collecting disability benefits.
- Enhanced partial disability benefit rider that only requires a 15% loss of income (or the inability to work the same number of hours or perform the same duties).
Related: Guardian Disability Insurance Review
MassMutual: Best for low premium rates
Why we chose it: All of the “Big 5” offer competitive level premiums. But MassMutual also offers graded premiums, allowing you to carry sufficient disability coverage when costs can be a barrier in the early years of your career.
Other stand-out features include:
- Endorsement option to remove 24-month mental disorder limitation, resulting in a mental health diagnosis being treated the same as any other disability.
- Pays dividends to participating policyholders (dividends aren’t guaranteed, but have been paid every year since 1869).
Related: MassMutual Disability Insurance Review
Ameritas: Best for increasing coverage
Why we chose it: Ameritas offers several options to increase coverage as you progress through your career without additional medical underwriting.
Other stand-out features include:
- Has a wide variety of elimination periods available, ranging from 30 days up to 365 and 730 days, depending on the chosen benefit period.
- Offers unique built-in features, such as a $500 benefit advancement to pay for medical treatment expenses and a good health benefit that reduces your waiting period over time.
Related: Ameritas Disability Insurance Review
The Standard: Best for family benefits
Why we chose it: The Standard includes a Family Care Benefit as part of its base policy. This benefit allows you to collect disability income if you have a 20% loss of income and are working at least 20% fewer hours in order to take care of a family member with a serious health condition.
Other stand-out features include:
- Allows a maximum monthly benefit of $30,000 for physicians (e.g., 5P, 4P, 4S, 3P occupation classes).
- Enhanced residual disability rider available that pays no less than 50% of your base monthly benefit for the first 12 months, followed by a payment proportional to your loss of income.
Related: The Standard Disability Insurance Review
Principal: Best for long benefit periods
Why we chose it: Principal offers a wide selection of benefit periods ranging from two years to age 65, 67 and 70.
Other stand-out features include:
- Offers a unique combination of future purchase options that allow a 3% automatic benefit increase each year and unlimited optional increases based on income in the first three years, followed by increases for major milestones, such as marriage or birth of a child, later in the policy.
- Has a maximum issue limit of $30,000 per month for physicians.
Related: Principal Disability Insurance Review
Get help finding disability insurance coverage for your needs
This guide is intended as a starting point for your search versus being a definitive one-size-fits-all “best” scenario. Disability insurance has many layers, to the point of being understandably overwhelming for most policyholders.
Each carrier offers different policy structures, including whether it’s non-cancelable or guaranteed renewable, and many optional riders for additional protection, like a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), catastrophic disability benefits, student loan protection and more. There’s simply a lot to consider when buying a long-term disability policy.
We encourage you to work with an independent broker who looks at the “Big 5” and explores options for a guaranteed standard issue (GSI) policy through your residency or fellowship program (even if it means not earning a commission).
SLP Insurance does just this. Our team reviews all of your options for the best disability insurance for physicians. You can rest assured that you’re receiving the best pricing based on your policy preferences. Fill out our quote form to get started.
FAQ: Best physician disability insurance companies
Long-term disability insurance provides physicians and other high-income earners with financial security if they become disabled. By choosing a disability insurance policy with a true own-occupation definition of disability, you’ll have the flexibility to be gainfully employed outside of your dental or medical specialty and still receive full benefits for a total disability.
Disability insurance premiums are not tax deductible. However, disability insurance benefits are tax-free if you pay for an individual policy with post-tax dollars. In contrast, group coverage premiums are generally covered by the employer or paid with pre-tax dollars, therefore, any benefits received are treated as taxable income.
You can expect to pay between 2% to 4% of your annual income for own-occupation disability insurance. However, the cost of disability insurance depends on your age, gender, occupation, medical history, state of residence, and specific policy choices (e.g., benefit period, monthly benefit amount, etc.)
Compare disability insurance quotes and save
SLP Insurance will find you the best price on own occupation coverage, even if it's not with us. Fill out the form below for a quote with up to 30% discounts.
