Specialty riders are optional provisions of a disability insurance policy. Riders are purchased separately from the insurance company’s base policy to give additional protection to the insured.
The extent to which the disability policy will protect a physician, chiropractor or dentist in any given situation may be decided by the specialty riders added to the policy.
A wide range of riders are marketed as part of the long term disability package for medical and dental professionals. Common disability insurance riders include
- “Own-Occupation” Total Disability: Total disability is specific to your regular occupation (your medical or dental specialty), even if you are able and choose to work in another occupation.
- Residual Disability Rider – benefits may be claimed for partial disability.
- Cost of Living Rider – benefits for cost of living adjustments (COLA) reduces the effects of inflation over the life of a long term disability claim.
- Future Increase Option Rider – You can purchase more disability insurance coverage as your income goes up, and you do not have to undergo further medical examination to prove insurability. This is often marketed to young doctors, dentists, nurses and others either just starting out or are still residents.
- Business Protection Benefit Rider – Doctors and dentists are the main source of income to any practice. If they can no longer work, income dries up not only for the practitioner, but to the overall practice as well. Business protection specialty riders helps offset the loss of overhead and financial risk to the practice for a period of time while a physician is out on disability.
- Non-Cancelable and Guaranteed Renewable Rider – With this rider, the insurance provider is unable to change provisions of your disability insurance policy. This includes premiums, monthly benefits, and policy benefits up to age 65, or life or other specified age. This rider makes your policy portable, whereas most Group LTD policies end with employment. Even if you switch to another level of occupation or earn less, many disability policies would give you the same income protection at the same premium.
- Catastrophic Disability Rider – Additional monthly benefit if you suffer a catastrophic disability that prevents you from performing a certain amount of activities of daily living (ADL) without assistance.
- Coverage for Mental Disorder – Specialty riders that extend long term disability benefits caused by mental disorders or substance abuse
- Medical Exclusion Riders – Riders allow individuals with pre-existing conditions to get disability insurance.
Are Specialty Riders Part of Your Disability Insurance Claim?
It is likely you have purchased enhanced insurance coverage through riders, resulting in very occupation-specific disability policy for your specialty. Riders may be added to both individual disability and group disability policies.
Any riders attached to the claim essentially change the benefits provided in a policy. Consequently in a disability claim you must be prepared at the very least for the following:
- An insurer may evaluate your disability claim with additional scrutiny.
- Although your policy may have your situation completely covered, your claim may still be denied for not providing required or sufficient documentation.
- Claims may be wrongly denied or selectively misinterpreted, under the guise of integrating additional coverage or exclusions into the policy’s overall language and definitions.
- Insurance companies may have certain riders available in some states but not others.
- Insurance companies may periodically change the language and definitions within specific riders.
The national doctor disability lawyers of Marc Whitehead & Associates have extensive experience with specialty riders and how they can affect your claim.
We are available to answer your questions, and to help with your LTD application, appeal an unfair claim denial, or represent you in a lawsuit against the insurance company. Call 800-562-9830 to request a free case evaluation without delay and talk with one of our doctor disability claim attorneys.
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