Physician Associates Need Disability Income Insurance
The daily work of a physician associate (PA) is performed by the mind (the medical expertise to help patients) and by the body (the physical work of caring for patients). So any type of disabling injury or illness can prevent you from working and earning an income. PA's need Disability Insurance.
Why is it so important that physician associates have Disability Insurance in place?
Everyone who earns their income with work has a need for Disability Insurance.
You have spent many years in school and money to learn and train to earn your national certification, as well as your state licensure, to practice as a physician associate. Looking to the future, your largest asset is not a house or a car, but your ability to earn a great income as a PA to fund your family budget.
Think of a young PA at age 30, who plans to practice until age 67….37 years at the state average physican associate income of $127,000 annually = $4,699,000. A lifetime earning potential of almost $5 million!
A disabling injury (think car accident, a bad fall), or an ongoing illness (think cancer, ALS, mental health disorder, etc.) could prevent you from working, from earning that $5 million earning potential.
And how would you then fund your family budget? Who would pay for those monthly needs, expenses and extras?
Disability Insurance can. Disability Insurance, if you are disabled and cannot work, pays you a monthly cash benefit, direct deposit, so you can continue to fund your family budget until you heal and can return to work. If you are permanently disabled the monthly benefits continue to retirement age.
And the use of the money is at your discretion, not the insurance company.
What does Disability Insurance cost for Physician Associates?
Many factors determine the monthly premium cost of Disability Insurance. The main three are occupation, current age, and sex.
You can scroll down to the bottom of this page and request a free quote. Chip will send you DI policy quotes specific to you via email.
To get a quick idea of the monthly premium costs, we used an example of a PA with annual income of $125,000. The Disability Insurance policy illustrated carries a $6,165 monthly benefit, beginning 90 days after disability and continuing to age 67. The definition of disability in the policy is “Own Occupation.”
Male Rates for Physician Associates with Our Example Details.
Male PA, current age 29: $125.38 monthly premium cost.
Male PA, current age 34: $152.23 monthly premium cost.
Male PA, current age 39: $190.43 monthly premium cost.
Male PA, current age 44: $238.37 monthly premium cost.
Male PA, current age 49: $292.15 monthly premium cost.
Illustrated 06/2025. Disability insurers can change their rates for new applicants anytime.
Female Rates for Physician Associates with Our Example Details.
Female PA, current age 29: $233.88 monthly premium cost.
Female PA, current age 34: $278.68 monthly premium cost.
Female PA, current age 39: $333.30 monthly premium cost.
Female PA, current age 44: $381.13 monthly premium cost.
Female PA, current age 49: $442.92 monthly premium cost.
Illustrated 06/2025. Disability insurers can change their rates for new applicants anytime.
The Importance of Choosing Disability Insurance Early.
We talk often about how Disability Insurance funds your family budget if you cannot earn your income due to a disabling illness or injury. But purchasing Disability Insurance and paying the monthly premium cost adds a line item in your family budget! So many people put off purchasing this important DI coverage and pray they are not disabled.
Besides putting your ability to cover your family budget at risk, by putting off purchasing Disability Insurance you are also ensuring you will pay more for the coverage!
See how the rates increase as you get older? When you purchase individual Disability Insurance, you lock in your current age, and pay that premium cost forever. In our example, the 29 year old male PA will pay $125.38 monthly for as long as he has the policy. If one of his colleagues waited until age 34 he would pay $152.23 monthly for the life of the policy.
Can’t I just choose the Disability Insurance offered through the AAPA Program?
It is endorsed by the AAPA, so it has to be the best choice, right?
The short answers to those questions are “You can, but…” and “Not usually.”
First, you must understand the difference between group and individual Disability Insurance.
-Group Disability Insurance policies are an insurance contract between a group and the insurer, where few promises are made to you, the insured. The AAPA Group LTD plan is group coverage.
-Individual Disability Insurance (the insurance this website explains) is a contract between you and the insurer, underwritten to your specifications. There are many benefit options to choose from, and many promises made.
In short, the strongest, most benefit rich plans are individual Disability Insurance policies.
When comparing the differences between choosing the AAPA Program (group) Disability Insurance plan or your own (individual) Disability Insurance policy, the differences to focus on are the “promises made” by the insurance company.
All insurance contracts are based on promises made by the insurer…that is why you pay monthly premium costs to an insurer for in the first place….the promises the insurance company makes in the case that a disability prevents you from working.
Below are six (6) main differentiating factors when it comes to “promises made” with individual Disability Insurance policies from multiple insurance companies vs. the AAPA group offering.
Individual DI policies are “non-cancellable and guaranteed renewable.” AAPA group coverage is not.
Individual Disability Insurers offer policies that are "non-cancellable and guaranteed renewable." This promise means the only reason the coverage can be terminated is for non-payment of premium costs.
The AAPA Group LTD Plan makes no such promises, reserving the right to cancel the coverage if they no longer sponsor the coverage, or choose to work with a new insurer. The current insurance company offering the AAPA plan can change benefits, costs, or decide to end the plan.
The promise of non-cancellable and guaranteed renewable ensures you will always have access to Disability Insurance. The AAPA Group plan could suddenly leave you without income protection.
The AAPA group LTD plan only offers a benefit duration of age 65, the SSRI age for older people, not anyone age 65 or younger.
When you choose the benefits for your own individual Disability Insurance policy you select how long the monthly DI benefits continue if you are permanently disabled and will not be able to return to work.
You can choose benefit periods as short as 5 or 10 years, but we recommend you choose a benefit duration that corresponds with your “SSRI” (Social Security Retirement Age), or the age where you can receive your full Social Security benefit.
For those born in 1960 or later the SSRI is age 67. Individual DI insurers offer options of age 65, 67 or 70. We recommend age 67 the most, with some choosing age 70. It is your choice.
With the AAPA Group LTD plan there is just one choice, age 65. That leaves a gap of 2 years, or more for younger people, between the benefits ending and your being able to access your full Social Security Retirement Benefit.
Individual DI policies provide the full monthly benefit offered. The AAPA group coverage reduces benefits if other coverage.
Individual Disability Insurance providers make the promise that the policy’s monthly benefits are paid in full if you are disabled. An example, your individual DI policy offered a $6,000 monthly benefit, you would receive that money each month.
Group disability insurance policies like the AAPA group LTD plan mandate a “reduction in benefits.” If you are disabled, you may receive the full benefit, but any other forms of income reduce the benefits you receive.
Examples include unpaid PTO paid out to you, Social Security Disability Benefits, and benefits from another group LTD plan through your practice or hospital.
If your AAPA plan monthly benefit was $6,000, but there were $1,500 in other benefits, you would receive only $4,500.
The AAPA group LTD plan limits disability benefits due to mental health diagnoses to 2 years.
The AAPA group LTD plan imposes a 2-year limitation on benefits for mental disorder or substance abuse diagnoses, with no option to extend it.
If your disability is due to one of these diagnoses, no matter the length of your disability, benefits only last 2 years.
Insurers offering individual Disability Insurance offer a choice:
-You can choose for your policy to cover disabilities due to diagnoses of mental disorder or substance abuse like any other illness, up to the limit of your policy benefits (usually until age 65, age 67 or age 70).
-Or you can choose to have your policy only cover disability due to mental disorder or substance abuse diagnoses for up to 2 years maximum. Choosing this option reduces the monthly premium cost you pay for your DI coverage.
Individual DI policies promise that costs cannot rise for any reason. AAPA group LTD coverage does not.
When you apply for and accept an individual Disability Insurance policy, the insurer makes the promise that the initial premium cost each month is set for life. There is no premium cost increase because you get older, develop a health issue, or because inflation moves the cost up. The rate is the rate!
The cost of AAPA group LTD coverage can rise at any time, whenever the insurer that offers it decides to raise the rates on a class-wide basis. (“class-wide” means everyone in the group).
And their current rate structure automatically increases the monthly cost when you have benchmark “0s and 5s” birthdays (when you turn 35, 40, 45, etc.)
There is no cost promise made by the AAPA group plan.
PA’s need a strong “own occupation” definition of disability. The AAPA group LTD plan’s definition has a hole in it!
The Own Occupation definition in individual DI policies states the insurer will pay the benefit for as long as the person cannot work in the exact occupation they were previously working in.
And, that if the disabled person cannot do just one of the main, material duties of their job, then the policy still considers them disabled and unable to work, and continues to pay the benefit.
The AAPA group LTD plan states the definition of Own Occupation in another way, “and is unable to perform each of the material duties of their own occupation.”
A big difference! The AAPA plan will not consider you disabled if your attending physician says you can do just one of your job duties.
But with individual Disability Insurance, if you cannot work in any of the main duties of your PA practice, you are considered disabled, and benefits are paid.
The importance of physician associates choosing the "own occupation" definition of disability.
"Definition of disability" is very important when considering Disability Income Insurance. Most people purchase a policy with a definition that says the insurer will pay the benefit if they are disabled, but will stop paying the benefit when the person can go back to work in a job “they are suitable for because of education and prior experience.”
This definition can be inadequate for someone who invested a great deal of time and money in their specialized occupation (veterinary medicine).
The better “Own Occupation” or “Your Occupation” definition states the insurer will pay the benefit for as long as the person cannot work in the exact occupation they were previously working in. And, that if the disabled person cannot do just one of the main, material duties of their job, then the policy still considers them disabled and unable to work, and continues to pay the benefit.
This means if you cannot work in all capacities of your PA practice, you are disabled according to the definition of the disability. The policy considers your specialty (Physician Associate) as your own occupation.
You can even choose a “pure own occupation” definition of disability that adds to the “own occupation” definition that if you are disabled you will receive monthly benefits, but also that you can even work in another occupation (other than as a Physician Associate) and earn income in that other occupation with no decrease in your DI benefits.
How does this translate to real life?
Here is a real life example that well illustrates the importance of choosing the own occupation definition of disability in your DI policy.
One of our clients, a veterinary ophthalmologist, purchased his Disability Income Insurance policy just 6 months after completing his training, and securing his first job. Two years later, while working in his woodworking shop (his favorite hobby) he suffered a deep cut on his hand and fingers and lost the use of one of his hands, with no idea of the healing time or when he would be back to work.
Even though our client still had all of the expertise and experience stored in his brain, the veterinarian's body could no longer fully act on it! Under the first, regular definition I outlined, the insurer might say, after a period of disability where he had recovered, but not the use of his hand, the veterinary ophthalmologist could teach in veterinary school, or just see patients.
He was suited for each of these jobs because of education and experience. But, his earned income would be much lower because he could not perform surgery with the current range of motion in his hand.
With the "own occupation" definition in his DI contract he received the full disability benefit his policy offered since he could not perform surgery, a key component to his practice. If his hand was disabled forever that benefit would have continued to his age 67, per his policy. Luckily his hand healed and was able to return to work within 14 months of the accident. In the 14 month interim his family budget stayed funded because his Disability Insurance benefits.
We Partner With Many Disability Insurance Companies, Including:
Disability Insurance companies excel in different factors of coverage; certain occupations, age groups, benefit options, etc. As an insurance broker (instead of an agent whom represents just one company) we can explore and find the best policy for your specific needs. In short, we can find you the best coverage at the most competitive cost.
Just Starting Out as a Physician Associate?
When applying for individual Disability Insurance a main part of the enrollment form asks about your current earned income. The underwriter can ask you to prove that income, with a tax return, W-2, etc.
But when you are just starting out as a PA, you do not have much income history in your field. Thankfully, individual DI insurance companies we work with present “starting professional” programs, where they offer you a set monthly benefit amount based on your professional occupation, “physician associate,” and waive any income requirements or proof of income.
The insurers we currently work with offer beginning physician associates a monthly disability benefit of $3,000-$5,000.
Then, in the future, as your income rises, we can increase the monthly benefit of your Disability Insurance policy as you can prove the income history.
Would You Like to See Quotes of Disability Insurance Specific to Physician Associates? Request a Free Quote Here.
Note: Chip only helps North Carolina residents choose and enroll in Disability Insurance.
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