As a highly-compensated specialist, you have invested heavily in your future. We know you have worked diligently for years at your education, residency and fellowship; and made a significant investment of your personal finances to get where you are today. We applaud you for your sacrifices, determination and dedication! You have achieved your goals, and now earn a higher income than many of your colleagues.

High-Earning Physicians are Often Underinsured

Unfortunately, the incomes of many high-earning physicians are underinsured. Perhaps your financial situation is similar to this hypothetical example:

Luis is a neurosurgeon who earns $50,000 per month. His employer-provided group long-term disability insurance will provide up to $10,000 per month in benefits. He has another $5,000 insurance benefit provided by a personal disability policy. This means if Luis becomes very sick or injured and can’t work, his monthly disability benefit would be a maximum of $15,000. With his current coverage, Luis has an income exposure of $17,500 a month if he wants 65% of his income to be covered (what professionals recommend.) He would most likely suffer financially because, with less than half of his monthly income to live on, he would need to dip into his savings to cover his expenses.

Look at your own situation for a moment; if an unexpected illness or injury prevented you from practicing your specialty, would your current disability insurance provide you with enough to support your financial needs? Or would your savings and investments begin to be depleted, putting your family’s future at risk?

Traditional disability insurance policies insure around 65% of your salary, with many employer plans capping benefits at $10,000 to $15,000 a month. If your monthly income is significantly higher, the percentage of income covered will decrease due to the limits on the plan’s benefits. So, the higher your income, the more likelihood you may have an income gap. As you have seen in our example, due to the caps on employer-provided benefits, benefit payments can leave a highly compensated physician with a significant portion of their monthly income unprotected.

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High Quality Supplemental Disability Insurance

TMA Insurance Trust offers supplemental disability coverage from highly-rated carriers such as Guardian, Principal and Standard. These carriers participate with each other so you can plan on a monthly benefit of $30,000 or possibly more - and lock in a rate until age 67. TMA members can also receive an exclusive discount of up to 20% from Guardian for the life of their disability insurance policy.

Higher Limits for TMA Members

For physicians who need even greater coverage, TMA Insurance Trust offers high-limit disability insurance from Lloyd’s of London. You can choose a benefit amount of up to $100,000 a month. Our example outlined above demonstrates how a high-limit disability insurance policy could supplement a physician’s group long-term disability coverage in order to properly protect the recommended 65% of his income.

A high-limit disability policy from Lloyd’s of London may be the right answer for physicians who want to close the income gap left by traditional disability insurance policies. The Lloyd’s of London Plan offers the following features:

• Own Occupation coverage
• Monthly benefit of up to $100,000 can be added on top of traditional participation limits
• Unlike traditional carriers, this plan considers all of your monthly income, not just your salary
• Simplified underwriting with no medical exam or lab work
• Fixed, level premiums
• Choice of payment options – lump sum payment, level payments or both
• Extended ages – TMA members up to age 70 can apply
• Exclusive 20% TMA member discount

Your Partner in Income Protection

If you would like to discuss your disability protection, a TMA Insurance Trust advisor is ready to assist you. We can review your current disability coverage in light of your personal finances and help you design an insurance portfolio that properly protects your standard of living and your family’s future. Our advisors don’t earn a sales-based commission, so you won’t experience any sales pressure. Call us today for a no-obligation consultation from one of our trusted advisors.

For over 60 years, TMA Insurance Trust advisors have been serving Texas physicians, their families and staff. TMA Insurance Trust prides itself on offering unbiased information and strategies to members, along with exclusive group rates on a range of the highest-rated plans in the industry.