For many people, purchasing life insurance is a once-in-a-lifetime event. They consider their debt, income, and savings; then they determine how much coverage they need. This tends to be a final decision, since they anticipate that their income and lifestyle will stay fundamentally the same throughout their life. Physicians are very different - their lives and careers tend to be dynamic and may change more. Periodic reviews of your life insurance coverage are important and recommended.

If you are a partner in your own small practice, you undoubtedly stay busy; but you probably wouldn’t have it any other way. The independence that comes from owning your own practice is a great reward for all the hard work. But you face specific challenges as well. One such challenge is the risk of financial loss if a practice partner passes away.

Most medical residents receive life insurance as a benefit from their employers. Whether you have already taken advantage of this coverage or not, there are strong financial advantages in obtaining supplemental life insurance outside the workplace.

Everything was going well that Saturday morning. The weather was perfect; you and your family were enjoying your daughter’s track meet - and she was doing very well. But when her left foot touched the ground upon landing in the long jump event, something went terribly wrong. She crumbled to the ground and curled up in tremendous pain.

After following up with her orthopedic surgeon, you were told that she had torn her ACL.

Serious illness can strike at anytime, to anyone. As you are keenly aware, with recent medical advances, certain diseases that once were thought to be incurable are now survivable. Yet, surviving physically may leave you with another serious issue: How will you survive financially?

If you’re like many physicians, employed by a medical group, hospital or medical center, you may be unaware of how much your long-term disability policy actually covers. Most policies paid for by an employer are limited to 50 to 60 percent of a physician’s base salary, excluding bonuses — leaving a gap in coverage that falls short of what’s required to meet ordinary living expenses. To illustrate this point, we'd like to give you a hypothetical example of how you could be caught off guard by inadequate disability coverage:

Everyone knows the principle behind a backup generator. When the electricity goes down, the generator powers on. In the event of an outage, your equipment stays up and running. Nothing skips a beat. Business goes on uninterrupted.

Don’t Let a Disability Disrupt Your Practice

As an independent physician and business owner, you have big responsibilities. You are first and foremost responsible for the care of your patients. Then there is the time, energy, and significant expense involved in running your office.

You have spent years investing in your education, working long hours in a high-stress environment, managing your funds wisely. In time you have been able to enjoy the benefits of all your hard work, including a luxury home and elegant automobile. Sadly, many physicians have not obtained proper coverage for their finer vehicles and homes, and have left themselves open to substantial financial loss.