95. A Disability Insurance Deep Dive | What to look for in a policy, why it's so often a fight with insurance companies, and how to collect

Our guest today is Dr. Stephanie Pearson, founder and CEO of Pearson Ravitz, an insurance advisory firm that specializes in disability and life insurance for healthcare professionals. In this episode we break down disability insurance start to finish: what to look for in a policy, pitfalls and traps, the deal with disability coverage through work, the steps you need to take in order to collect disability, why insurance companies so often put up a fight in paying, and much more. 

Guest bio: Before beginning her career in insurance, Dr. Pearson was in the prime of her career as an OB/GYN when she suffered a shoulder injury at work that soon prevented her from practicing medicine. Her struggle navigating the disability claims process and the challenges of losing her identity as a physician drove her to become a passionate advocate and advisor to her peers on the importance of disability insurance.

Stephanie dedicated herself to educating others on the vital need to have the appropriate policy (something she had lacked) and decided to become an insurance broker; specifically, the rare type of broker who follows her clients throughout their careers, advising them continuously as their life circumstances change.

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For full show notes of this episode and all sorts of other goodies, visit our podcast website

We discuss:

• Getting paid a disability benefit from a group vs private policy
• The history behind insurance companies heavily scrutinizing physician disability claims
• The fundamental differences between a disability policy you get through work vs. one you buy on your own
• The important fine print in a private policy: specialty-specific and own occupation
• Can you still have a job that makes money and collect disability payments?
• The essential questions to ask an insurance agent when shopping for a disability policy
• What in insurance expert looks for in a policy to see if it’s solid
• Disability policy discounts
• The elimination period/waiting period of long term disability policies
• Is it worth it to buy short term disability coverage?
• The steps to take if you think you might need to file for disability 
• Black and white vs. gray cases- why some claims are challenged and others sail through
• Is there a penalty if you start the process of filing a claim but don’t file it?
• Why some specialties pay more for disability than others
• The importance of getting private disability insurance when you’re a trainee/resident
• The disability insurance trainee package
• The big question - why should you get disability insurance in the first place?