The best disability insurance providers in the United States operate on providing own-occupation coverage.
This allows high-earners like physicians a backup plan if they can no longer work in their field.
However, each provider has its own policy regulations that can make it a better or worse choice.
This guide will show you the best disability insurance companies and how you can choose between them.
Key Takeaways
- Top disability insurers offer own-occupation coverage, protecting physicians’ specialized skills.
- Principal provides the highest monthly benefits, while Guardian offers lifetime protection.
- Premiums vary by age, specialty, elimination period, and health status.
- Choosing the right policy depends on coverage limits, riders, and long-term needs.
Table of Contents
Overview of the Top Choices
Now, let’s get to the characteristics and features of each provider.
Physicians Thrive offers disability insurance from the most popular providers, so if you have any questions regarding them, reach out and we’ll be happy to answer them.
1. Principal
Policy Basics
Principal’s policy defines individual disability clearly: you qualify for benefits when sickness or injury stops you from performing your job duties.
This simple definition avoids complex requirements that many other companies include in their policies.
The policy can replace up to $30,000 of your monthly income, which, according to ZipRecruiter, is nearly two times as much as the average monthly salary.
It’s also the highest sum in the industry, at least from the choices available on our list.
Additionally, you get to receive these payments until the age of 65, 67, or 70, based on the benefit period you select when purchasing the policy.
Medical Specialty Protection
Principal excels in protecting medical specialists through detailed policy language.
For example, if you’re a surgeon who can no longer operate, you’ll receive full benefits even if you can still diagnose patients or assist in other medical roles.
This protection extends to all medical subspecialties as well.
For example, a cardiothoracic surgeon receives different coverage than a general surgeon, with specific language protecting their advanced surgical skills.
The specific language per subspecialty is one of the reasons why Principal is one of the top 5 disability insurance companies in the U.S.
Most insurance companies group all physicians together, but Principal recognizes the unique skills of each specialty and compensates accordingly.
Premium Calculation and Cost Factors
Your premium payments depend on several factors. Principal looks at your exact income and determines how much coverage you qualify for, up to the $30,000 monthly maximum.
They consider your medical specialty or professional field.
Your age and health status affect rates as well, and so do your state’s specific insurance regulations.
They also have the elimination period that you choose, which significantly impacts your premium.
Principal offers waiting periods from 30 to 730 days, which is among the broadest in the industry.
A longer wait reduces your premium but also means you need more savings to cover the expenses until benefits begin.
For example, choosing a 180-day elimination period instead of 90 days typically reduces premiums by 10–15%.
Partial Disability Benefits
Principal provides comprehensive partial disability coverage when you can work but not at full capacity.
Their payment system uses clear income-loss percentages to calculate benefits:
- 75-100% income loss receives full benefit payment
- 50-74% income loss receives 75% of the benefit amount
- 25-49% income loss receives 50% of the benefit amount
- Less than 25% income loss receives proportional payment
This graduated system helps during recovery periods, allowing you to return to work gradually while maintaining much-needed income protection.
Benefits depend on actual income loss rather than hours worked, protecting against reduced productivity or earning capacity.
Additional Policy Features
Principal enhances their base coverage with several crucial features.
Their policy includes built-in protections and optional riders for comprehensive coverage:
Core Policy Features
- Automatic benefit review every three years
- Waiver of premium during disability
- Rehabilitation benefits for return-to-work programs
- Guaranteed renewable policy
Optional Riders
- Cost of living adjustments to fight inflation
- Future increase options without medical exams
- Catastrophic disability coverage
- Retirement protection continuation
- Recovery benefits during work transitions
Claims and Payment Structure
- Simplified claim filing process
- Specialists who understand medical conditions
- No monthly claim forms after initial approval
- Direct deposit benefit payments
- Regular claim status updates
2. Ameritas
Policy Basics
Ameritas provides disability income insurance with monthly benefits up to $15,000, which is notably lower than Principal.
However, what makes their policy unique is the range of benefit periods they offer.
Unlike most companies that start at five years minimum, Ameritas provides shorter options of one year, two years, and five years, alongside traditional long-term disability insurance periods up to age 65, 67, or 70.
This flexibility is especially valuable for professionals who want to match their disability coverage to specific financial obligations or career stages.
The policy also guarantees that you can renew your coverage, ensuring continuous protection regardless of possible changes to your health after your purchase.
Medical Specialty Protection
Ameritas structures its disability insurance policy to protect specific occupational duties through own-occupation coverage.
As usual, the policy recognizes specialized skills and provides benefits if you can’t perform your specific job duties, even if you can work in another field.
The policy also applies even if you work in another capacity within your own field.
A dentist who develops hand tremors will no longer be able to remove caries or restore cavities.
However, they may handle consultations or administrative tasks in their field and still get coverage.
Premium Calculation and Cost Factors
The same premium-affecting factors like age, occupation, health status, etc., are in effect here as well.
The elimination period ranges from 30 to 730 days, matching Principal’s.
However, the unique aspect of Ameritas’ premium structure lies in its Good Health Benefits.
This feature reduces your elimination period by two days for each claim-free year, up to 30 days total.
This reward system can significantly impact how quickly you receive benefits when needed, effectively reducing your disability insurance cost over time through maintaining good health.
Partial Disability Benefits
Ameritas offers a wide range of partial disability coverage benefits through its Enhanced Residual Disability Rider.
This coverage helps during recovery or partial disability as follows:
- Benefits start when you lose 15% or more of your income due to a disability or an injury
- Higher benefit percentages for higher income loses
- Recovery benefits continue even after returning to full-time work
- Monthly benefit calculations adjust based on actual income reduction
- Additional support during transitional work periods
Additional Policy Features
Here are some of the additional features offered by Ameritas:
- Presumptive disability benefits with no waiting period
- COBRA premium reimbursement of up to $1,000 monthly
- Non-disabling injury benefits up to $3,000 per incident
3. Guardian Life Insurance Company
Policy Basics
Much like Ameritas, Guardian’s disability income insurance policies provide up to $15,000 in monthly benefits, which is a little on the low side for high-income physicians.
However, they make up for it with their graded lifetime benefit feature, which provides coverage beyond age 65 for disabilities that occur before that age.
This extended protection proves especially valuable for professionals planning long careers.
Guardian’s policy also includes unlimited mental health coverage in most states, removing the typical 24-month limit most insurance companies impose on mental health-related disabilities.
Medical Specialty Protection
Guardian follows the same steps utilized by the previous two insurance companies; their own-occupation coverage provides benefits if you can’t work in your field but can make income from other fields.
The policy also includes specialty-specific language, like Principal, to ensure the exact professional skills receive proper coverage.
Premium Calculation and Cost Factors
Guardian calculates their premiums using the same set of factors as before, and they have the same elimination period range of 30–730 days.
Their unique approach shows in the way they view occupation classes.
They offer particularly favorable rates to medical specialists and other high-income professionals who maintain good health records.
The company also considers specific medical specialties when determining rates.
In other words, those who have strong safety records in their practice often enjoy lower premiums.
Partial Disability Benefits
Guardian offers two levels of partial disability coverage through their residual disability riders
Basic Residual Disability
- Benefits begin at 20% income loss
- Proportional payments based on lost income
- Coverage continues during recovery periods
- Simple income calculation method
Enhanced Residual Disability
- Benefits start at 15% income loss
- Higher payment percentages for greater income losses
- Extended recovery benefits
- More favorable income calculation methods
- Additional support during work transitions
Additional Policy Features
Guardian improves their base coverage through the following:
Core Policy Features
- Unlimited mental health coverage
- Graded lifetime benefits
- Guaranteed renewable policy
Specialized Riders
- Student loan protection with direct lender payments
- Retirement protection for continued savings
- Cost of living adjustments tied to (collateral protection insurance) CPI
- Lump-sum payment at age 60
- Automatic 4% benefits increase for six years
Claims and Service Benefits
- High customer satisfaction scores (A++ rated financial strength)
- Streamlined claims process and comprehensive customer support
- Regular policy reviews
4. MassMutual
Policy Basics
MassMutual structures their disability coverage around two main policies: Radius, and Radius Choice.
Both of them provide monthly benefits up to $20,000, which makes them higher than Ameritas and Guardian but lower than Principal.
Physicians who chose MassMutual often do so because of how their policies have non-cancellable and guaranteed renewable features.
These features extend to age 65 for Radius and age 74 for Radius Choice.
In simpler terms, your premiums stay locked and your benefits remain unchanged as long as you pay your premiums.
After five years, policyholders become eligible for non-guaranteed dividends, a unique feature that can help offset premium costs over time.
Medical Specialty Protection
There is no additional information that makes MassMutual stand out in the medical specialty protection aspect.
They follow the same outline we’ve discussed when covering other disability insurance providers.
Premium Calculation and Cost Factors
MassMutual follows the same outline for premium calculation as the policies we’ve mentioned above.
The only difference is the shorter elimination period compared to the previous providers.
MassMutual’s elimination period starts at 60 days and goes up to 370 days.
Still, MassMutual still has a go-to feature: their simplified underwriting program for eligible professionals, which is particularly helpful for young doctors and professionals just starting their careers.
In simple words, this program streamlines the application process and can potentially reduce initial costs.
Additionally, just like Guardian, the company considers your specific medical specialty when calculating premiums, allowing specialists with strong safety records to enjoy more favorable rates.
Partial Disability Benefits
MassMutual provides comprehensive partial disability coverage through their Extended Partial Disability Benefit Rider:
- Benefits start when you experience any income loss due to disability and adjust proportionally to income reduction
- Recovery benefits continue during work transitions
- Support for rehabilitation and return-to-work programs + additional benefits during vocational training periods.
Additional Policy Features
In addition to everything we’ve mentioned so far, MassMutual adds a few extra features to improve their policy even further:
Built-in Benefits
- Premium waiver during the disability period
- Immediate benefits for presumptive disabilities
- Recurring disability protection without a new waiting period
- Rehabilitation support and dividend eligibility after five years
Optional Riders
- RetireGuard for retirement contribution protection
- Cost of living adjustments at 3% compound
- Catastrophic disability additional benefits
- Extended partial disability coverage
- Future insurability options without medical review
Unique Protection Elements
- Non-cancellable coverage to age 74
- Dividend participation opportunities
- Simplified underwriting for eligible professional
5. The Standard
Policy Basics
The Standard brings monthly coverage that maxes out at $15,000, and focuses on both short and long-term protection.
Their policy is age-based, allowing benefits to continue for any policyholder under the age of 61 until the age of 65 or normal retirement age, whichever provides longer coverage.
In a sense, we can say that the policy adapts benefit periods based on your age at the start of the disability period, creating a sliding scale that decreases gradually for older policyholders.
This age-specific approach helps you understand exactly how long your benefits will last, which is clearer than other companies that use standard benefit periods regardless of age.
Medical Specialty Protection
The Standard protects medical professionals through their own-occupation rider, which defines disability based on your inability to perform your specific occupation duties, the same as the industry standard.
Keep in mind that this coverage becomes particularly important during the first 24 months of long-term disability.
After this period, the definition changes to an any-occupation, which means you must not be able to perform any job suited to your education and skills.
Some may look at this as a disadvantage, but this transition period gives medical professionals enough time to evaluate their options while receiving full benefits.
Premium Calculation and Cost Factors
The premium calculation uses the standard approach as mentioned throughout this guide, but the elimination period ranges from 30–365 days, which is the smallest range on our list.
Plus, there’s a unique feature in The Standard’s policy that sets it apart: they have an Automatic Increase Benefit rider that adds no initial cost but increases coverage by 4% annually for six years.
Keep in mind that declining an increase might terminate this benefit, making it important to carefully consider future premium implications when selecting coverage options.
Partial Disability Benefits
The Standard provides partial disability coverage that includes:
- Benefits that start at 20% income loss
- Coverage benefits during the elimination period
- Support for return-to-work transitions
- Family care expense benefits available
Additional Policy Features
- Annuity contribution benefit after nine months
- 2% annual cost of living adjustments
- Up to $2,475 monthly annuity contributions
- Family care reimbursement of up to $500 monthly
Let Us Help You Choose
We’ve done the best we can to highlight the specifics of every disability insurance company in one guide.
However, you may still not be able to gauge your current circumstances well enough to pick the best option on your own.
Quite often, there are too many details to grasp, especially without having a financial advisor or help from an expert who knows what they’re doing.
The fact that you’re a physician can complicate the process even more with student loans, continuing education, and future plans narrowing the margin for error.
Ideally, you need the help of disability insurance experts who are also physicians. You need Physicians Thrive. Contact us, and we’ll help you sign up for the best policy based on your unique situation.
