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Dr. Kristin Fuller describes how she navigated short-term disability, and the best insurance policies for physicians needing long-term disability benefits.

In any profession, succumbing to illness or injury can have a devastating effect on work ability. For physicians, it could mean the temporary inability to care for patients. Such was the case for Kristen Fuller, MD, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during a ski trip. Necessary surgery and physical therapy followed the incident, rendering Dr. Fuller incapable of working in the ER, as well as hampering her overall independence and financial stability. Thankfully, Dr. Fuller was able to collect short-term disability, which allowed her to pay for living expenses and student loans. However, insurance only accounted for 60% of Dr. Fuller’s salary, resulting in her inability to put money in the stock market, retirement accounts, and savings accounts.

Dr. Fuller was fortunate to not need long-term disability assistance. She was able to return to work in the short-term and didn’t have to eat into her savings. However, while researching her options during leave, Dr. Fuller learned that, should she have required it, she didn’t have access to long-term disability. After in-depth exploration of insurance options, Dr. Fuller realized that she was significantly underinsured, not to mention that she was incredibly fortunate that she didn’t require long-term disability care, as that would have jeopardized her financial stability.

According to Dr. Fuller, most disabilities pertain to medical illness. For physicians, having a severe illness or injury likely means not having a paycheck. As such, safeguarding physician finances via strategies like quality disability insurance is crucial. When it comes to going on long-term disability, physicians may experience a lack of support from their employers, who likely don’t want to pay for it. Financially, employers have less to lose if a physician resigns rather than if they leave on long-term disability. Dr. Fuller notes that this could result in doctors having to drain their paid time off and short-term disability while feeling employer-induced pressure to step down from their jobs before the need for long-term disability. Dr. Fuller advises any physician under pressure to resign due to illness or injury to reach out to their human resources department or a disability attorney. Lack of employer support can compound present adverse mental and emotional effects of disability. As such, Dr. Fuller also recommends that doctors on disability leave maintain a solid support system and consider therapy to help navigate this period.

An article in Family Practice Management notes that “short-term disability covers temporary illnesses or injuries for physicians who are expected to recover and return to work fully.” While some policies pay out over 2 years, they typically endure for 3 to 6 months. Likely, physicians’ employers provide short-term disability insurance, and long-term disability insurance offers a monthly payout until around age 68 (policy dependent), contingent upon the doctor being unable to earn their prior income. As a result, it would be wise for physicians to take out a long-term disability policy.

The article’s authors praise an “own occupation” policy as the best option for physicians, as these plans pay out even if a doctor can earn money working in a different occupation or specialty. The new, lower salary will typically be subtracted from disability payouts, but the combined amount should allow the physician to maintain stable finances. In an “any occupation” policy, the sheer act of signing on to another job may prevent a physician from keeping their benefits.

Dr. Fuller points out the features of insurance policies that physicians may want to consider or research further. For instance, if a physician can earn a small portion of their income (20%), long-term disability plans typically don’t cover partial disability. Dr. Fuller also recommends inflation protection for physicians in their 30s-40s. Furthermore, Dr. Fuller notes that a rider regarding future purchase options would enable residents and novice physicians to purchase more coverage without needing to begin a new policy, thereby not having to deal with the underwriting process again. Dr. Fuller advises having at least one personal disability insurance policy to counter employer-based group policies that typically take away benefits from group disability sources like Social Security disability payments and medical association policies.