Getting the Benefit of Group Life and AD&D coverage in Case of Permanent Disability
Insurance coverage for Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) provides compensation for accidental death as well as for injuries like loss of one or more limbs, loss of thumb and index finger, loss of speech and hearing, among other injuries. Another critical scenario that a person can suffer is a terminal illness that makes him/her indefinitely disabled and unable to work to earn an income. While your individual disability insurance (IDI) policy would cover you in this situation till you reach retirement age; what about coverage beyond retirement age?
Apparently, no single policy would offer AD&D coverage benefits beyond retirement age, but you could pick them up from riders and accelerated benefits. For instance, if you are terminally ill, you can access a part of the death benefit of your group life policy. You could also ask your employer to either customize or strike out the elimination period for your doctors disability insurance policy. In the event of your accidental death, the benefits would obviously go to your nominee as decreed. However, if you suffer dismemberment resulting in disability for, say, 4-5 years, you would get the benefits of your IDI policy for that duration.
An AD&D policy is essentially supplemental life insurance
When you opt for AD&D coverage, make sure to read the fine policy print carefully to see what benefits it offers and under what circumstances. Remember that it cannot replace your term life insurance just as it cannot replace your long term IDI physicians disability insurance policy for coverage against dismemberment that causes permanent disability.
In case your dismemberment or terminal illness causes permanent disability, you would have to get adequate coverage for post-retirement life expenses. That’s where your term life policy, along with annuity and pension provisions, will come in, but it will require you to do substantial research to know how to get the maximum benefits.
Coverage against disability is best provided by your IDI policy
Irrespective of the nature of your disability, whether it is due to accidental injury or terminal illness leading to life-long disability, an IDI healthcare professionals disability insurance is your best bet. If you want to optimize it for adequate coverage, you would have to stack your coverage with other insurance policies.
One way of doing it is to invest in a group AD&D policy and a group long-term disability policy that comes at a reasonable cost. You may also invest in a group or IDI short-term disability policy to neutralize the long elimination period of a long-term IDI healthcare professionals insurance policy.
Maximizing coverage benefits requires smart workarounds
Optimizing your IDI policy for adequate benefits during claim time is necessary only when you have a significantly larger income for which there is no adequate replacement in standard disability insurance services. This generally happens when you are more than a decade into your career as a doctor.
Optimizing your coverage against all your perceived risks of disability requires good knowledge and understanding of insurance policies. It is much better to hire the services of an industry professional like a reliable disability insurance broker, who knows about insurance products much better than people who are not familiar with it.
Learn more about Group Life and AD&D coverage: https://www.mgis.com/solutions/group/group-life-and-add
