Should physicians add a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) rider to their disability insurance policy?
And how can a Future Increase Option (FIO/FPO) help protect a physician as income grows throughout their medical career?
In this episode of The Responsible Resident, host Amber Stitt welcomes disability insurance attorney Ethan Abramowitz to discuss two important components of individual physician disability insurance: COLA riders and Future Increase Options.
Ethan explains how COLA can help a disability benefit keep pace with inflation during a long-term claim and why compounding increases can become meaningful over time.
Amber and Ethan also discuss how physicians can prioritize policy features when budget matters, why true own-occupation and residual disability coverage form the foundation of an individual policy, and how future increase options may allow physicians to increase coverage as their income grows without going through new medical underwriting.
What You Will Learn:
• How a COLA rider works during a long-term disability claim
• Fixed versus CPI-U-based COLA increases
• Why compounding COLA can matter over a lengthy claim
• How COLA may apply to partial or residual disability benefits
• When prioritizing a higher base benefit may make sense
• What Future Increase Options (FIOs/FPOs) do
• How physicians can increase disability benefits as income grows
• Why securing increase options early can help protect future insurability
• How true own-occupation, residual disability, FIO/FPO, and COLA riders work together
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction: COLA Riders and Disability Insurance
1:36 Why COLA Can Matter During a Long-Term Claim
2:37 How Compounding COLA Increases Benefits
5:12 Fixed, Floating & CPI-Based COLA Options
6:02 COLA and Partial Disability Claims
9:22 When Physicians May Choose Coverage Without COLA
11:04 Prioritizing Disability Insurance Policy Features
13:16 Future Increase Options Explained
15:02 Increasing Coverage Without New Medical Underwriting
16:48 Why Applying Earlier Can Matter
For more information about disability insurance head over to:
https://mddisabilityquotes.com.
If you are interested in getting a quote you can do that here:
