Baygroup Insurance

Maryland's premier Long-Term Care insurance agency

Disability Insurance

What is the difference between long term care insurance and disability insurance?

Long term care insurance (LTCi) and disability insurance (DI) both help you protect your assets, but they serve different purposes.

Disability insurance replaces a portion of your income lost due to an inability to perform your job.  The qualifying disability may be job or task specific (unable to perform your particular job) or general (unable to perform any job).

What rating will I receive on my disability insurance application?

Many factors go into determining your health rating.  To get a preferred health rating, you must be in excellent overall health.  Your weight, height, cholesterol level, and blood pressure will be taken into consideration.  Nonsmokers will receive a higher rating than those who use tabacco.  In addition, your personal and family health history will be considered. 

My employer provides group disability insurance. Do I need additional individual disability insurance?

Group insurance plans through an employer can provide needed coverage. An individual needs to know if the plan covers illness and injury, for how much and for what period of time. Some group policies provide coverage only if injured on the job and only for a short period of time. Some employers provide no group coverage at all. Many individuals have multiple policies that cover long term disabilities.

Who needs disability insurance?

Most people should have disability insurance.  It is not fun to think about what might happen if your paycheck stopped.  Disability insurance provides income protection for you should you become unable to work due to a disability.

What is any-occupation?

Any occupation pays your benefits if you cannot work any occupation for your level of education and training.  For example, if you were a teacher and can no longer work in a classroom, but you can mentor other teachers, you would not receive benefits.

Some policies are own-occupation for a period of years, at which point they convert to any-occupation.

What is own-occupation?

Own-occupation is a sought-after feature in a disability policy.  This type of policy will pay benefits if you cannot work in the field you were working in prior to the disability.  If you have to find work in a different field due to the disability, you would earn income from that job, and continue to collect disability benefits.

How is disability defined?

The definition of disability may vary from policy to policy.  The definition in the policy that you choose is extremely important because it determines under what circumstances you will be eligible to receive your benefit.  At BayGroup insurance, we have access to many different disability insurance policies.  As we shop for your policy we will look at the way disability is defined and help you to understand the policy.

Should I even apply for disability insurance if I have a health problem?

Don’t count yourself out.  While you may not receive a “preferred health” rating, many people with existing health conditions are able to obtain policies, with some exclusions.  BayGroup insurance will shop for a policy that is best for you.

Why do I need disability insurance when there is Social Security Disability?

Social Security Disability is payable only for a total disability that is expected to last for at least a year or result in death.  The definition is more stringent than individual or group disability policies, you cannot do the work you previously did and cannot adjust to other work because of a medical condition.  For more details, visit this page.

How much will I have to pay for disability insurance?

The cost of your disability insurance will be affected by many factors.  These factors include the elimination and benefit periods, your age, your occupational class, your gender, where you live, your health conditions, benefit amount, the coverage options you select and the amount of coverage you select.  It is safe to say that you could expect to pay around 1-3% of your annual income for disability insurance.  As a broker of disability insurance, BayGroup can shop for a policy that meets your needs and will present you several disability insurance quotes to choose from.

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