Recently I had a CRNA student(Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) contact me regarding purchasing a new disability insurance policy. Their story was typical and I wanted to share it so others may be able to learn from their situation.

I’ll call this CRNA Susan to protect her anonymity. She is currently a CRNA student in Ohio and will be graduating soon. She was looking to protect her current and future income. She is 32 years old, married and will start a family in the near future (hopefully!).

A lot of her fellow CRNAs recently told her about Set for Life and how they did a lot of research when it came to disability insurance. She contacted me on the advice of her fellow CRNA students.

When Susan initially contacted me, she wasn’t really sure what she needed and was new to the process. I was able to walk her through the process in an easy manner, listening to her needs.  Since she was still in school, she wasn’t yet earning any money. She had signed a contract with a local group and would start working there in a few months.  After talking with her, she learned that she would not have any group disability insurance through her new employer. She is currently healthy and does not take any medication nor does she smoke.

We looked at several different options and ensured the following riders/benefits were in the policy:

• Own occupation definition of disability. This covers her if she can no longer work as a CRNA even if she can earn an income elsewhere.
• Noncancelable, guaranteed renewable. This means that once she has the policy, the company cannot increase her premiums or change her contract.
• Ability to increase benefits in the future without underwriting. This was important to Susan as she is thinking about starting a family soon. If she purchases the policy prior to being pregnant, that may be covered if she has complications.
• Residual and recovery rider. This means that it would pay partial disability benefits.
• Cost of Living Rider. This is an inflation rider that kicks in once she has been on claim for one year to keep the benefits up with inflation.
• Discounts. Susan works at one of the schools where Set for Life Insurance has exclusive available discounts. Additionally, these rates are unisex which saves her close to 60% on her current and future premiums.

Once we knew what we wanted on the policy, we shopped around and looked at the top 5 policies in the industry. We made sure the contracts were comparable and had the same riders.

Since she was still in school, we decided to start with $2000/month benefit. As a student, she could purchase this benefit even without an income, nor did she need to provide any income documentation. When she starts her new job in a few months, she will be able to increase her benefits by showing a copy of her new contract, without any medical questions!

The rates from company varied greatly. The range of premiums for $2000/month was $60/month to $200/month. The greatest variance came from having those discounted rates.

We started the application process and within 2 weeks, Susan had a new individual disability insurance contract in her hand.

For more information about individual disability insurance for CRNAs, nurse anesthetists, CRNA students or medical professionals, contact Set for Life Insurance today!