Disability Insurance Occupational Classes

Transcription

1 Disability Insurance Occupational Classes When purchasing individual disability insurance, it is important to meet with an independent agent who can sell you a policy from any of the big six insurance companies, Guardian (Berkshire), Standard, Metlife, Ameritas, Principal, and MassMutual. One of the reasons for this is that for your state, gender, and especially specialty, one company s policy may be much cheaper than a similar policy offered by another company. Your specialty, or occupational class, is one way in which these companies stratify the financial risk they are taking insuring you. As a general rule, procedurally oriented doctors, such as surgeons and dentists, are in a lower (meaning more expensive) occupational class than a nonprocedurally oriented doctor. However, as you compare the occupational classes across the various companies, you occasionally see a discrepancy, where a particular specialty is in a higher or lower occupational class than you might expect. For a doctor shopping for disability insurance, you would want to give special consideration to a company s policy which placed you in a higher classification than the other companies did. It becomes difficult to compare apples to apples, however, because while most companies use occupational classes 3,4, and 5 for physicians, two of the companies, namely MetLife and Ameritas, put doctors in classes 4, 5, and 6. It is probably best to subtract a class from those two companies when making comparisons. Principal uses just 4 and 5 for doctors. Some Big Caveats

2 This information was current when I wrote this post (August 2014) but will rapidly become out of date as companies change these classes from time to time. Plus, I may have made a mistake transcribing them. Also, where you see a blank spot in the chart, don t assume they don t offer a policy for that occupation. I simply didn t have the information, so I left it out. This information, while hardly secret, is generally considered for producer use only and not for public consumption. But hey, isn t lifting the hood on how the industry really works what this blog is all about? At any rate, you can t, and shouldn t, buy a policy without involving an agent, so you might as well get a knowledgeable independent one to help you compare policies. Now, without further ado, the list of specialties with their associated Occupational Class. Specialty Nurse practitioner Physician Assistant Guardian Standard MetLife Ameritas Principal MassMutual 3M 3A,4P 4M 5M 3A 3A 4M 3A, 4P 5I 5M 3A 3A CRNA 3M 3P 4M 3M 3A 3A Allergy 4M 4P 6M 6M 4M 5P Anesthesia 3M 3P 4M 4M 4M 3P Cardiology 4M 4P 5M 5M 4M 5P Interventional cardiology 4N 4P 4M 5M 4M 3P CV Surgery 3M 3P 5M 4M 4M 3P Dentist 3M 3P 4M 4M 4M 3P Dermatology 4M 4P 5M 6M 4M 4P or 5P Emergency Medicine 3M 3P 4M 4M 4M 3P Endocrinology 5M 4P 6M 6M 5M 5P Endodontists 4M 4P 5D 5M 4P or 5P Family Medicine 4M 4P 6M 6M 5M 5P Gastroenterology 5M 4P 6M 6M 5M 4P

3 General Practice 4M 4P 6M 6M 5M 5P Geriatrics 5M 4P 6M 6M 5M 5P Gyn Onc 3M 3P 4M 6M 4M 3P Hematology 5M 4P 5M 6M 5M 5P Hospitalist 5M 4P 6M 6M 5M 5P Immunology 4M 4P 5M 5M 5M 5P Internal Medicine 4M 4P 6M 6M 5M 5P Neonatology 5M 4P 6M 5M 5M 5P Nephrology 5M 4P 6M 5M 5M 5P Neurology 4M 4P 6M 6M 5M 5P Neurosurgery 3M 3P 5M 4M 4M 3P OB/GYN 3M 3P 4M 5M 4M 4P Oncology 5M 4P 6M 5M 5M 5P Ophthalmology 4M 4P 5M 5M 4M 3P Oral Surgery 4M 3P 5D 4M 4M 4P Orthodontist 4M 4P 5D 5M 4M 4P Orthopedics 3M 3P 4M 4M 4M 3P Otolaryngology 3M 4P 5M 5M 4M 4P Pain Medicine 3M 3P 4M 4M or 5M 4M 3P Pathology 4M 4P 5M 6M 5M 5P Pediatric Dentist 4M 4P 5D 5M 4M 4P Pediatrician 5M 4P 6M 6M 5M 5P Periodontist 4M 4P 5D 5M 4M 4P Physiatry 4M 4P 6M 5M 5M 5P Plastic Surgery 3M 3P 5M 4M 4M 3P Podiatry 3M 3A, 2P 2M 3A 4P Prosthodontists 4M 4P 5D 5M 4A 4P Psychiatry 4M 4P 4M 5M 5M 5P Pulmonology 5M 4P 5M 5M 5M 5P Rad Onc 4M 4P 5M 5M 5M 4P Radiology 4M 4P 5M 6M 5M 5P

4 Interventional radiology 4M 4P 4M 5M 4M 4P Rheumatology 5M 4P 6M 6M 5M 5P General Surgeon 3M 3P 5M 4M 4M 3P Urology 4M 4P 5M 5M 4M 4P A Few Unique Situations Let s take a look at a few of the current discrepancies that might be useful for you. Nurse Practitioners The 5M class with Ameritas is markedly better than the 3M, 3A classes available by the other two companies. Be sure to include an Ameritas policy when shopping. Allergy Principal and Mass Mutual will put you in a higher classification than the others. Anesthesia Principal offers a higher occupational class than the other companies. Cardiology MassMutual offers a higher occupational class than the other companies, but not if you do interventional cards Cardiovascular Surgery Might want to avoid Principal given that it thinks you re higher risk than the other companies do.

5 Hike it like you stole it! Mt. Timpanogos, UT Dermatology You get the highest classification only with Ameritas. Emergency Medicine, Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pain Medicine, and Plastic Surgery These doctors are usually put into the riskiest class (3 or 4 depending on the company.) But they can often get a little cheaper policy with Principal since their lowest doctor class if 4. Endocrinology, Geriatrics, Hospitalists, Hematology, Oral Surgery, and Pediatrics Might want to avoid Standard, which seems to think you re higher risk than everyone else does. Family Practice, Immunology, Neurology Beware Guardian and Standard Gastroenterology Beware Standard and Mass Mutual Internal Medicine Might want to avoid Guardian, Standard, and Metlife Neonatology and Nephrology Might want to avoid Standard, Metlife, and Ameritas OB/GYN Ameritas, Principal, and MassMutual put you into a relatively

6 attractive occupational class compared to the others. Oncology Might want to avoid Standard and Ameritas Ophthalmology Anything but MassMutual. Otolaryngology That Guardian policy that you always hear has the best benefits is going to cost you even more to get compared to a rival policy. Pathology Ameritas, Principal, and Mass Mutual are worth looking at. Physiatry MetLife, Principal, and Mass Mutual think you re lower risk. Podiatry Mass Mutual seems a great place to start looking. Psychiatry Principal and Mass Mutual rank you one class higher than the others. Pulmonology Take a special look at Guardian, Principal, and Mass Mutual. Radiology Ameritas and Mass Mutual seem particularly attractive, especially if you don t do any interventional work.

7 Rheumatology Might want to avoid Standard and MetLife General Surgery MetLife and Principal ought to be included in your search. Conclusion Disability insurance is complicated stuff. There is a lot more to buying a policy than just which occupational class the company assigns you to. However, this little exercise should give you a little more understanding into why a good agent might not even bother showing you policies from particular companies. It also demonstrates that there is no best policy, just the best one for your desired coverage, state, gender, health status, and specialty. Shop carefully my friends. What do you think? Did anything in this table surprise you? Why or why not? Which company did you buy your policy from? Comment below! Who did you buy your main individual disability insurance policy from? Berkshire/Guardian The Standard Principal Ameritas Mass Mutual Metlife Northwestern Someone else It's a group policy

8 I don't have disability insurance I have no idea Vote View Results Loading...