Volume 7 • 2020 • Issue 7

Good Disability Insurance Choices Can Lead to Good Outcomes Stay current When Dr. Smith graduated in 2008, she maintained her disability insurance through the CDSPI Student Insurance Program, but she remained at the base benefit level of $2,000 per month. Ten years later she was married with two children, and her income had grown to over $225,000 a year. Fortunately, a colleague reminded her about keeping disability insurance in line with her income and she raised her coverage to $8,500 per month. Half a year later, she was involved in a car accident that left her with a broken collarbone. She experienced total disability and could not practise for six months, but fortunately she had remembered to increase her insurance, so she received the $8,500 per month benefit. Think ahead Dr. Lee took the Future Insurance Guarantee (FIG) option when he applied for disability insurance at age 31. A few years later, he was diagnosed with a manageable form of congenital heart disease. As a periodontist with a growing income, he wanted to increase his coverage twice while in his 40s. 1 Because he had FIG, he was able to do this without medical evidence of insurability, which would have left him ineligible for an increase because of his pre-existing condition. Choose the right elimination period A recent graduate, Dr. Mann was trying to decide which elimination period (the waiting time to satisfy before you can collect benefits) to choose for her DisabilityGuard Insurance. With a limited budget and huge student debt payments, it made sense to go for the longest period (120 days) to get the lowest premium. However, an insurance advisor pointed out a couple of things that changed her mind: 1) With debt payments and other expenses, it would be extremely difficult to get through a 120-day elimination period without income if she couldn’t practise; 2) If she chose a longer elimination period and wanted to shorten it at a later date, she would need to take another medical exam to make the change. You have many choices to weigh when you apply for and maintain CDSPI DisabilityGuard ™ Insurance. Dentists who make the right choice are often very thankful for it. Here are some hypothetical scenarios * using fictional names that are based on our long experience with dentists. They illustrate the advantages you can gain by choosing insurance options wisely. 1. Proof of income is required when applying for an increase. * The names and specific circumstances outlined in this article are strictly fictional in nature. S upporting Y our P ractice 38 | 2020 | Issue 7