Disability Insurance
Built for Physicians

Disability insurance is one of the most important financial decisions a physician will ever make, and most get it wrong because the person across the table does not understand how a physician’s career actually works. We help physicians, residents, fellows, and dental professionals review own-occupation coverage built around your specialty, your career stage, and the income you have spent years training to earn.

Coverage Built Around Your Career

Disability Insurance Conversations We Have With Physicians

Disability insurance is not one decision, it is several, and the right conversation depends on where you are in your career and how your income is structured. Below are the three most common starting points we work through with physicians, residents, fellows, and dental specialists.

Resident and Fellow Coverage

Lock in own-occupation coverage during training, when underwriting tends to favor younger and healthier physicians. Build in future-increase options so your benefit can grow with your income.

Attending Physician Coverage

Review your employer plan against an individual policy, fill the gaps in bonus and production income, and structure benefits around the lifestyle your attending salary actually supports.

Dentist and Dental Specialist Coverage

Procedure-heavy income deserves procedure-aware coverage. Review hand, vision, and back exposure with policy language built around how dental income actually works.

Career-Stage Planning

Physician Disability Insurance for Every Stage of Your Career.

Disability insurance planning looks different at every stage of a physician’s career. The conversation we have with a PGY-2 resident is not the conversation we have with a 20-year practice owner. Below is what each stage usually needs to think through, and where most physicians find the gaps in their current coverage.

Residents in Training

Residency is the highest-leverage window in a physician’s career to lock in disability insurance.

The salary you earn during training is a fraction of what you will earn as an attending. The asset most worth protecting is not your current paycheck, but your future earning power.

Underwriting often favors younger and healthier physicians, and the rates you lock in during residency often stay lower for the life of the policy.

Many residency programs offer Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI) coverage with no medical underwriting, which can simplify the application for residents who qualify. Locking in coverage now and adding to it later usually costs less than waiting until you become an attending.

Health changes during training can also limit what you qualify for later, which makes the timing of this decision matter as much as the structure. We help residents review GSI options, true own-occupation language, and Future Increase Options that grow with attending income.

Medical Fellows

Fellowship is the bridge between training and the income jump that follows your first attending contract. Most fellows still carry policies that fit resident-level salaries, and those benefit amounts will not keep pace with attending earnings.

The months before you sign your first attending contract are the right time to plan for that gap.

Future Increase Options let you raise your benefit amount without new medical underwriting, which matters most when your income is about to change quickly.

Subspecialty matters more than most fellows realize, since a cardiologist, an interventional radiologist, and a hospital medicine fellow each have very different income and exposure profiles. Your incoming employer plan deserves a careful review before day one. That review covers the benefit cap, the definition of disability, and the way the plan handles bonus or production income.

We help fellows audit existing coverage, ride up benefits before attending, and align coverage with the structure of their first attending offer.

Attending Physicians

The jump from fellowship to your first attending contract changes almost everything about your financial picture. Income often triples or quadruples in the first year, and lifestyle commitments tend to follow within months.

Mortgage, family obligations, retirement contributions, and school costs all build on the assumption that the attending paycheck will keep showing up.

Employer long-term disability sounds like enough at first. The cap on benefits, the definition of disability, and the way bonus and production income sits outside the benefit base usually tell a different story. Layering individual coverage on top of group long-term disability is how most attendings close that gap.

We help attendings run a clean gap analysis, layer the right individual structure, and lock in true own-occupation specialty protection.

Our Process

How We Work With Physicians

Disability insurance done right is not a quick form and a fast quote. It is a careful conversation that takes the time to understand where you are in your career, what coverage you already have, and what you actually need to protect. Below is how that conversation usually unfolds with the physicians, residents, and fellows we work with, from the first call through the annual review years later.

01

Discovery Call

We start with a conversation, not a quote form. Tell us where you are in your career, what coverage you currently carry, and what you are most concerned about protecting. We listen, ask follow-up questions, and confirm whether we are the right fit before anything else happens. No pressure, no commitment, no commission-driven nudging toward a product you do not need.

02

Existing Coverage Audit

Before we can recommend anything new, we need to understand what you already have. We review your employer long-term disability plan, any individual policies you carry, and the way your income is structured between base pay, bonus, and production income. Most physicians find real surprises in their employer plan once we read the policy language together.

03

Gap Analysis and Clear Explanation

We walk through what your current coverage actually does and where it falls short. You will see the benefit cap, the definition of disability, the riders, and the way the plan handles bonus or production income. Then we explain in plain language what could fill those gaps, what each option costs, and why the choice might matter for your specialty and career stage.

04

Multi-Carrier Quote Comparison

Independent means we shop your case across multiple carriers, not just the one paying the highest commission. We compare definitions, riders, benefit periods, and pricing side by side. You see the same comparison we see, and we explain the tradeoffs in plain language so you can make a real decision rather than a pressured one.

05

Application and Underwriting Support

When you decide to move forward, we walk you through the application paperwork and the medical underwriting process step by step. Underwriting often takes four to six weeks depending on your health history, and we stay involved the entire way. If the carrier comes back with questions or asks for additional records, we handle the conversation so you are not chasing paperwork between cases.

06

Policy Delivery and Annual Review

Once the carrier approves your policy, we review the actual contract with you to confirm it matches what we discussed. We also schedule an annual check-in to review whether your coverage still fits your career stage, your income, and your family situation. Promotions, partnership buy-ins, new dependents, and income jumps all change the math, and your coverage should change with you.

Why Physicians Choose Us

What Makes Our Physician Disability Insurance Practice Different

Most physicians have already been pitched by a captive agent who represented one carrier and recommended a single product. Our approach is built differently from the ground up. We work for the physician across the table, not for any one insurance company, and the way we run the conversation reflects that.

Independent and Multi-Carrier

We are not captive to any single carrier, which means we are free to recommend the policy that actually fits your situation. We compare quotes, definitions, riders, and pricing from multiple top-rated disability insurance carriers side by side. You see the same comparison we see, and you make the decision with full information rather than a one-product pitch.

Physician-Focused, Not Generalist

Disability insurance for physicians is its own discipline. Specialty matters, training stage matters, employer plans matter, and the income structure of a surgeon is nothing like the income structure of an internist. We work primarily with physicians, residents, fellows, and dental professionals, which means the conversations are faster, the recommendations are sharper, and we already know the questions you are about to ask.

Plain-Language Policy Review

Insurance contracts are dense, and the parts that matter most are usually buried in the definitions section. We read the policy language with you, explain what each clause actually does, and translate the legal text into plain English. You walk away understanding exactly what you bought, what it covers, and what it does not, instead of trusting that the broker read it correctly.

No-Pressure Consultation

We do not pitch, we do not push, and we do not chase you with follow-up calls if a product does not fit your situation. The discovery call is a real conversation, not a sales appointment. If we are not the right fit, we tell you, and we will point you toward someone who is. The goal is the right coverage decision, not a closed sale.

Talk to a Physician Disability Insurance Broker

Whether you are early in residency or twenty years into private practice, the fastest way to know if your coverage is right is to have a real conversation about it. We answer questions, review existing policies, and tell you honestly whether you need to make a change. No quote form, no commitment, no pressure.

Call Us

206-949-6144

Email Us

joe@coreprotectionpartners.com

Testimonials

trusted by professionals nation wide

See what our clients say about their experience working with Core Protection Partners.

Core Protection Partners completely changed the way I look at insurance. They explained everything in plain English and helped me compare multiple options without any pressure. I felt informed and confident in my decision. It’s rare to find a team that truly puts clients first.

What stood out to me was their independence. They weren’t pushing one company they actually shopped around and showed me several competitive quotes. I ended up with better coverage at a lower price than I expected. Highly recommend!

The team took the time to understand my family’s needs and walked me through every option. No jargon, no pressure just honest advice. I feel confident knowing we’re properly protected and not overpaying.

The Top 5 Disability Carriers We Work With

Gold-Standard Own-Occupation Protection

As a member of the Big Five insurers, Principal provides true own-occupation coverage. This ensures you are protected if an illness or injury prevents you from performing the specific duties of your profession, even if you are able to work in a different field.

Built for Career Growth

Designed for high-earning professionals and business owners, these policies feature flexible classifications and future increase options. This allows your coverage to scale automatically as your income and firm grow over time.

Trusted Claims Excellence

With a premier reputation for consistency and fair benefit payments, Principal offers the financial stability required to safeguard both personal lifestyles and business overhead.

Elite Own-Occupation Security

As a premier carrier, Guardian provides true own-occupation protection. This ensures you receive your full benefit if you cannot perform your specific professional duties, even if you choose to work in another field.

Guaranteed Career Longevity

These policies feature non-cancellable and guaranteed renewable terms. Your coverage and premiums remain locked in for the life of the policy, providing a permanent safety net that follows you through every career move.

Comprehensive Lifestyle Safeguards

Beyond basic income, Guardian offers specialized options to protect your total financial picture, including student loan repayment, retirement contribution matching, and inflation-adjusted benefits.

Elite Own-Occupation Customization

Through the Platinum Advantage policy and its specialized Own Occupation rider, The Standard ensures you receive full benefits if you are unable to perform your specific professional duties—even if you are healthy enough to work in another capacity.

Dynamic Benefit Adjustments

Designed for high-earning individuals, these policies include options to increase coverage as your salary grows, ensuring your protection always matches your current lifestyle without requiring additional medical underwriting.

Family and Business Continuity

The Standard provides unique provisions that go beyond basic income, including benefits for family care emergencies and specialized support for business owners to cover overhead expenses during a recovery period.

True Own-Occupation Definition

As a top-tier carrier, Ameritas ensures that you are considered disabled if you cannot perform the specific duties of your own occupation—even if you are healthy enough to work in another capacity or a different field.

Flexible Coverage for High-Earners

These policies are designed to grow alongside your career, offering automatic increase riders and future purchase options that allow you to lock in more coverage as your income rises without new medical exams.

Modern Policy Enhancements

Ameritas provides a wide array of specialized riders, including student loan repayment protection and cost-of-living adjustments, ensuring your financial plan remains intact during a recovery period.

Elite Own-Occupation Customization

Through the Radius and Radius Choice platforms, MassMutual provides true own-occupation protection. This ensures you receive full benefits if you cannot perform your specific professional duties, even if you are earning income in another field.

Scalable Wealth Protection

Designed for high earners, these plans include future increase options and retirement protection riders. This allows your coverage to grow with your salary and ensures your retirement contributions continue if you are unable to work.

Dividend-Paying Stability

As a policyholder-owned company, MassMutual offers non-cancellable contracts with fixed premiums. Their unique structure provides long-term financial strength and the potential for annual dividends.