As an oral surgeon, you are most likely well aware of the risks of losing your ability to work as an oral surgeon. Oral surgery not only requires a tremendous amount of education and training, but it is also a very physical and technically demanding type of work.

Therefore, it is critical that oral surgeons protect their incomes properly with an individual disability insurance policy. Here are some tips when shopping for oral surgeon disability insurance:

• Definition of disability. Make sure your policy covers you if you can’t work in your specialty. The name of the definition is less important as this can vary from company to company. It can be referred to as own occupation, your occupation, regular occupation, etc… Make sure you are working with a disability insurance specialist, preferably a broker that can show you multiple policies and options. With this specialty specific definition of disability, you will receive monthly benefits if you are too sick or injured to work as an oral surgeon, even if you can earn an income in another medical specialty or occupation. Depending on the contract, your benefits may or may not be reduced if you receive income elsewhere.
• Noncancelable, guaranteed renewable. With this clause in your contract, the company can never modify or change your contract or increase your premiums. This is critical to have on an individual policy. This protects you if rates climb in the industry or if you have an adverse change in health.
• Residual Rider. This rider will pay benefits if you have a partial loss of income. With this rider, you are not required to be totally disabled to receive benefits. Companies require a 15 or 20% or more loss of income and you will receive that proportion of your benefit on claim. Read the definition closely as some policies will pay recovery benefits and some will not.
• Increase options. This rider can vary from company to company but it is critical, especially if you are early in your career. This allows you to increase your benefits in the future without going through the medical underwriting process. This protects you if you have an adverse change in health.
• Discounts. Find out if you are affiliated with one of the Set for Life Insurance Discounted Programs or hospitals. This can save you between 15-55% depending on the discount. If you are a woman, look for a unisex policy which can save you up to 55% on your premiums (women pay approximately 40% more on their policy premiums than men).
• If you are a business owner, consider adding a business overhead expense policy. This will help you keep the doors open and help pay your high overhead to keep the business going.

If you are an oral surgery resident, you may purchase up to $5000/month benefit regardless of income or group benefits in force. When you complete your training, you may increase the benefits according to your new income by showing income verification.

Since oral surgeons have high income potential, it oftentimes makes sense to carry individual disability insurance from more than one company. If you carry benefits from only one company, you are limited to purchasing up to $15,000/month benefit. With more than one company, you may aggregate your benefit amount up to $25,000/month benefit in the future.

For more information about disability insurance for Oral Surgeons, contact Set for Life Insurance today for a personalized quote comparison!