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Insurance Advice For Interns, Residents, And Fellows
The best time to purchase disability, life, and health insurance is right now - while you are young and healthy. If you have health concerns, then the best time to purchase insurance was before your health issues began. Don't wait until it is too late. Clinical medicine is vastly different from "insurance medicine". Clinical medicine will usually determine a person's health based on their current status. Insurance medicine will determine a person's health status based on their entire medical history.
Even if you are considered healthy by a physician, insurance companies may still decline you for insurance or rate and modify your policy based on health concerns and medications you have taken in the past - even from over ten years ago. In order to obtain these types of insurance policies, you must qualify for it based on another person's terms (a.k.a. the insurance company). If you do not qualify, you cannot get it! The smartest thing any resident/fellow can do is obtain insurance coverage when you are healthy enough to get it - before any changes in health occur. If you wait, something may change with your health status and you may never qualify for insurance again.
Even if you are considered healthy by a physician, insurance companies may still decline you for insurance or rate and modify your policy based on health concerns and medications you have taken in the past - even from over ten years ago. In order to obtain these types of insurance policies, you must qualify for it based on another person's terms (a.k.a. the insurance company). If you do not qualify, you cannot get it! The smartest thing any resident/fellow can do is obtain insurance coverage when you are healthy enough to get it - before any changes in health occur. If you wait, something may change with your health status and you may never qualify for insurance again.
Are discounts available at my GME hospital for disability insurance?
To find out if your teaching hospital endorses a discounted plan, contact us and let us know which hospital you are working at. Many teaching hospitals have discounts available for the interns, residents, and fellows. These discounts will always remain on your policy throughout your career. The discount will also be applied when you increase your monthly benefit by using the Future Purchase Opion (FPO).
My income is very low during residency, how can I afford insurance now?
For disability insurance, obtain a policy with a small monthly benefit to keep the cost low. In addition, add a large Future Purchase Option (FPO) to your policy. With the FPO, you may increase your benefit in the future as your income increases, regardless of any health problems. There is always a cost to waiting - if you wait, and do not obtain coverage now, something may change with your health and you may never qualify for this type of insurance again. However, by obtaining this policy now, you are guaranteeing that you will have disability coverage throughout your career, while keeping the initial cost low during your residency.
Once you complete your residency or fellowship, your income will usually increase significantly. At this time, all you will need to do is increase your monthly benefit using the Future Purchase Option (FPO) you added to the policy. Even if you would otherwise not qualify medically for this coverage, the FPO guarantees your ability to increase the monthly benefit.
For life insurance, the best option during residency/fellowship is usually term insurance. Permanent life insurance is usually not affordable for a resident or fellow, while term insurance is very inexpensive. Term insurance policies contain a provision called a "conversion privilege". By obtaining a term insurance policy now, you are able to keep the cost low, while guaranteeing your ability to convert your policy into a permanent policy in the future. This conversion option may be exercised regardless of your current health status. By doing this now, the goal is to keep the cost low, while ensuring that you will have life insurance later on in life, regardless of any changes to your health. Each insurance company has different conversion privileges. It is a good idea to obtain a policy that allows you to convert during the entire term period. Some policies are limited and will only allow you to convert within the first 5 or 10 years.
After completing your residency or fellowship and your income increases, you can make the decision whether or not to convert your term policy to a permanent policy. If you decide not to convert at that time, you can still convert at a later time.