January 2003
Disability insurance can prevent financial
disaster
by Dr. Terry A. Rondberg
Ever since I began the Chiropractic Benefits Services (CBS)
program, I've been painfully aware of the risks chiropractors face from
malpractice claims. Time and again, I've heard or read about doctors who
faced financial disaster because they were sued and didn't have proper
coverage.
Yet, it was just recently that I came to realize doctors face
an even bigger threat than malpractice lawsuits: long-term disability. I
always figured that if people are fairly healthy, they probably don't need
to worry about becoming disabled.
The truth is, each year an estimated 600,000 people suffer a
stroke, and every 14 seconds, there's a car crash that results in a
disability. In fact, one in three workers lose the ability to work at
least 90 days or more before they reach 65!
Personally, I would never think of going without life
insurance, yet my chances of being disabled during my working years is
more than three times higher than my risk of dying!
I'm sure all of you are in the same situation. We have a home
and a car, both of which we insure. We have a practice or a business,
which we insure. And we think we're taking the ultimate precaution by
having life insurance so our family won't suffer any financial
difficulties when we die.
But what happens to ALL of this -- family, home, practice,
car -- if we're disabled?
Most people have enough savings to pay their bills for three
to six months. After that, without an income, all the rest is at risk.
Who'll pay the mortgage, make the car payment, cover the family expenses?
Will you have to use your retirement savings just to keep things going
until you get well? Will you have to go into debt to pay the bills?
To make sure this doesn't happen to you, you can now get a
long-term disability policy through the CBS program, one that will replace
your income -- up to $4,000 tax free each month -- while you're
disabled.
As it did with its malpractice insurance program, CBS has
tried hard to find the best disability policy available on the market, at
the most competitive rates. It also found the best underwriter: MetLife --
a leader in the insurance industry for more than 130 years! As of
May 31, 2001
, the MetLife Companies
had approximately $300 billion in assets under management, and
exceptionally high ratings from A.M. Best, Standard & Poor's, Fitch's
and Moody's.
CBS has made sure that the provisions of the policy are the
best you can find anywhere, with as much flexibility as possible.
For instance, while most policies give you a few years at
most, the CBS policy allows you to choose a policy that will cover you
until you're 65 years old! You can also pick your "elimination
period," which is the time between when you're disabled and when you
start receiving benefits. The longer the period, the less you'll pay in
premiums. So, if you've put away enough savings to cover three months'
living expenses, you can choose a 90-day elimination period and really cut
the policy's cost.
Another great feature of the CBS Disability policy is that it
is guaranteed renewable -- your policy cannot be canceled
while premiums are being paid. That means the company can't suddenly
decide to drop you, as so many health insurers have in the past few years.
And your premium can't be adjusted just because you've made a claim in the
past.
Unless your state prohibits it, the policy will also contain
valuable provisions like a cost-of-living rider, which increases benefit
amounts to keep up with inflation. There's also a return-of-premium rider
that allows you to get back half of all premiums paid after five years if
no claims are made.
Of course, there are two other important benefits to buying a
policy from CBS.
First, you're helping support chiropractic. Unlike most other
insurance providers, CBS donates part of its profits back into the
profession, funding research and contributing to the development of
evidence-based guidelines that help support our practice.
Second, we offer the best customer service you'll find. Our
representatives care about our policy holders and the CBS president,
Timothy Feuling, welcomes phone calls and e-mails and will provide
information or assistance whenever possible.
Insurance is never something we look forward to buying,
whether it's for a car, our house, life or health. But, like malpractice
insurance, long-term disability protection is something we can't really
afford NOT to buy.
For more information on long-term disability coverage through
Chiropractic Benefit Services, call 800‑582‑4989 or e-mail Mr.
Feuling at feuling@cbsmalpractice.com.
If you're going to buy a long-term disability policy, you
might as well call CBS -- and buy the best.
