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Disability Insurance for Surgeons

Becoming a surgeon takes years of dedicated – and often expensive – training. Unfortunately, no amount of training can make surgeons invulnerable to illness or injury. That’s why disability insurance for surgeons exists.

Disability Insurance for Surgeons

Disability Insurance Coverage: Protecting More Than Your Income

As a surgeon, you’ve dedicated your life to your career. You’ve spent years earning your undergraduate degree, obtaining your medical degree and completing your residency. You’ve probably also taken on substantial debt in the process. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average medical school graduate has $241,600 in total student loan debt.

Becoming a surgeon is a massive investment. It can also be a smart investment. You’ve created a rewarding career, both emotionally and financially. The 2021 Physician Compensation Report from Doximity shows that surgeons are some of the most highly compensated doctors. Neurosurgeons make an average annual salary of $773,201, the largest salary of all physicians. Thoracic surgeons come in second with $684,663, followed by orthopedic surgeons at $633,620, plastic surgeons at $556,698 and vascular surgeons at $552,313. General surgeons make $451,151 on average, while colon and rectal surgeons make $445,730.

Surgeons are well compensated, and when you consider the fact that people’s lives are literally in their hands, this seems justified. These large salaries can help surgeons pay off their student loan debt while building a certain lifestyle for themselves and their families. However, a disability can upend all of these plans.

If an illness or injury prevents you from working, you stand to lose more than your career. You can also lose the investment you’ve made and lifestyle you’ve developed.

Disability insurance for surgeons can help you protect your investment and your lifestyle.

Request a TruSpecialty quote today!

What Qualifies as a Disability?

What does it mean to be disabled? Although the meaning of “disability,” might seem clear, defining this term can actually get complicated.

According to the CDC, “A disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions).”

This is a pretty general definition, and the CDC goes on to explain that “people with disabilities” is a very diverse group. Different disabilities can impact hearing, vision, movement, communication, thinking, memory, mental health or social relationships.

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When you stop to think about it, it becomes clear that a condition might be a severe disability for one person but not as big an issue for another person. For example, a foot injury that causes a slight limp might not be a big deal for some people, but it could be disastrous for a professional athlete.

Surgery is a particularly demanding field, and this is especially true for certain surgical specialties. An illness or injury could render you unable to perform your duties, so it’s important to secure paycheck protection in the form of disability income insurance. It’s also important to pay attention to the definition of disability in your physician disability insurance policy.

How a Disability Insurance Policy Defines Disability

Defining disability is absolutely critical for disability insurance, and different policies define this term differently. The Social Security Administration defines disability as an inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity due to a physical or mental impairment that can be expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months or result in death. It’s a strict definition, and many people get denied Social Security Disability Insurance benefits.

Individual disability insurance policies can use different definitions of disability.

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  • If a policy uses an any occupation definition of disability, the policyholder will only be eligible for benefits if they are unable to work in any job that is reasonably suitable for them.
  • If a policy uses an own occupation definition of disability, the policyholder will be eligible for benefits if they are unable to perform the duties required for their own occupation.
  • With a specialty specific own occupation disability insurance policy, coverage is tied to the specific specialty.

Not everyone needs to buy disability insurance with specialty-specific coverage, but it often makes sense for surgeons. Your job is very specialized, and an illness or injury might make you unable to perform your duties, even if you’re still capable of doing other work.

The Physical and Mental Requirements for Surgeons

If you injured your hand, would you be able to perform surgery safely? Possibly not. Vision and motor function issues could also interfere with your ability to do your job. Some of this may come down to your medical specialty. For example, if you’re a cardiothoracic surgeon, you may need especially steady hands in order to do the fine surgical work required, and any illness or injury that made your hands less steady could be a serious problem.

It’s not just physical health issues that could prevent you from working, either. Mental health issues are also a serious concern. For example, according to the CDC, the symptoms of depression can including having trouble falling or staying asleep, feeling tired even after sleeping and having trouble concentrating, remembering details or making decisions. These issues could be a serious problem for a surgeon who needs to be alert, able to focus and ready to make life-or-death decisions.

A surgeon suffering from mental health issues may be unable to work as a result. They may also lose their medical license under state rules. For example, in Oregon, the Oregon Medical Board requires the automatic license suspension of any licensee who has been committed or admitted to a treatment facility for more than 25 days for a mental illness that affects their ability to practice medicine safely. Additionally, if the Board has reasonable cause to think a licensee may not be able to practice medicine safely, they may order an investigation including mental, physical or medical competency examination, and if mental illness is found to impair the licensee’s ability to practice medicine safely, the consequences can include license limitation, probation, suspension, revocation or denial of license.

This is just one state, but other states can have similar rules. People’s lives depend on surgeons, so the requirements can be stringent.

Disability Can Strike Surgeons

Surgeons can experience disability in many ways.

  • They may be injured in a car crash, while traveling or while engaging in hobbies.
  • They may experience various medical issues, such as cancer or heart disease.
  • They may experience work-related issues, including stress and burnout.

In many cases, disability catches people off guard. Don’t wait until you experience a career-ending illness or injury. By then, it will be too late to purchase disability insurance coverage. Protect your income and your lifestyle now by securing portable, own occupation individual disability insurance now.

Disability Insurance Companies

Long term disability insurance coverage terms can vary from one insurance company to another. In addition to looking at the definition of disability, you also need to consider other factors, including the monthly benefit and the disability benefit period. It’s important to make sure you’re getting the right coverage for your needs.

We provide specialty specific disability insurance for surgeons of many types, including orthopedic surgeons, heart surgeons, neurosurgeons, colon & rectal surgeons, plastic surgeons, general surgeons and thoracic surgeons.

Do you need help finding the best disability insurance for your specialty?

Request a TruSpecialty quote today!

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619-584-2570

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