Disability Insurance With Hx Of Depression

[musterplaster]

Hi everyone

My school had a few insurance talks recently and I met with a broker and went through the standard disability insurance application process including the usual medical questions. As it happens, I did seek medical help for situational depression and anxiety within the past 5 years which was treated with medication and then resolved. I haven't dealt with this in many years but apparently it still excludes me from being able to purchase disability insurance from many of the big vendors.

 

Does anyone have any advice in this situation? What are my disability insurance options moving forward? I matched to BC (not sure if that makes any difference)

 

Frankly I find this whole thing surprising given the rates of depression in medical students. If I had known that this would come back to haunt me all these years later, I probably would have sought better coping strategies rather than medicalize the whole thing...in retrospect, my situation was relatively mild. 

[distressedpremed]

So from what I understand, you won't be eligible for some part of the RBC disability insurance but you will still be eligible for both RBC and OMA (or other provincial plan) 

 

So you would have to keep the RBC plan, and the OMA plan (purchasing both, and keeping your OMA membership)

After two years in residency if you're free from this "mental health issue" is what they call it, then you can switch solely to RBC

so ultimately, you pay a bit more for insurance for the first two years (and remember the first year of RBC is free!) 

 

Other residents should chime in...I'm still relatively new at this, but this is what has been explained to us by the reps 

[schmitty]

You should still be able to sign up for most disability plans, but any new ones you sign up for will likely have an exclusion clause which means it won't cover any psych issues for x number of years after the policy starts. This sucks, I know, but it is to prevent people with no insurance who get sick from signing up and immediately going on disability. 

[ellorie]

I was in a different boat because when I got insurance the CFMS plan didn't ask about a history of mental illness, but my understanding from my insurance broker is that if I ever needed to switch I'd probably end up with a policy that excluded mental illness either outright or for a certain number of years.

 

I already had to contend with the preexisting condition riders so as was mentioned above I had multiple policies for some time.

[Indiculas]

I'm curious to learn more about this ...  If a student is diagnosed with severe depression during undergrad and receives the accommodations/benefits from OSAP for permanent disability, does this eliminate the possibility of qualifying for psych-related disability insurance in the future? Is this still the case if the depression is better managed and no healthcare assistance is needed for multiple years? 

[ralk]

4 hours ago, Indiculas said:

I'm curious to learn more about this ...  If a student is diagnosed with severe depression during undergrad and receives the accommodations/benefits from OSAP for permanent disability, does this eliminate the possibility of qualifying for psych-related disability insurance in the future? Is this still the case if the depression is better managed and no healthcare assistance is needed for multiple years? 

This will depend on the disability insurance plan being offered. Most plans will have at least a temporary exclusion, where disability due to previous previous conditions will not pay out claims within a certain time period of starting payment for that plan. Most won't have a permanent exclusion, however, so coverage should still be quite possible. Be sure to read the fine print of any disability insurance agreement you're looking to sign, and if possible, shop around for the plans with the shortest (or ideally no) exclusion period.

Association insurance plans, like the OMA plan, are likely to be somewhat better on this front than individual insurance plans like the RBC plan, simply because risks are pooled from the start so individual factors matter less from the insurer's perspective. Still, being thorough and reading the clauses in the agreement is a must, as this is not a hard-and-fast rule.

[ellorie]

I was basically told by my insurance broker never to let my current policy (CFMS from before they started asking about mental illness) lapse because I will likely only be able to get a policy that excludes psychiatric coverage.  I don’t know how true that is but that was the message I got.

I have never tried to apply for other insurance so I don’t know how it would go. If you have a mental health history it’s really case by case. You’re always going to be higher risk than someone with no history even if you’ve been well for years and they’ll take that into account. 

[Indiculas]

2 hours ago, ralk said:

This will depend on the disability insurance plan being offered. Most plans will have at least a temporary exclusion, where disability due to previous previous conditions will not pay out claims within a certain time period of starting payment for that plan. Most won't have a permanent exclusion, however, so coverage should still be quite possible. Be sure to read the fine print of any disability insurance agreement you're looking to sign, and if possible, shop around for the plans with the shortest (or ideally no) exclusion period.

Association insurance plans, like the OMA plan, are likely to be somewhat better on this front than individual insurance plans like the RBC plan, simply because risks are pooled from the start so individual factors matter less from the insurer's perspective. Still, being thorough and reading the clauses in the agreement is a must, as this is not a hard-and-fast rule.

 

1 hour ago, ellorie said:

I was basically told by my insurance broker never to let my current policy (CFMS from before they started asking about mental illness) lapse because I will likely only be able to get a policy that excludes psychiatric coverage.  I don’t know how true that is but that was the message I got.

I have never tried to apply for other insurance so I don’t know how it would go. If you have a mental health history it’s really case by case. You’re always going to be higher risk than someone with no history even if you’ve been well for years and they’ll take that into account. 

Thank you ! If you don't mind me asking, what differentiates whether the restriction for claims related to previous conditions are temporary or permanent ? How much higher are rates generally if someone has been diagnosed with depression or another psychiatric disorder ?

If someone self-declares that they have a permanent disability for OSAP but then manages the condition well after, will insurance automatically link information and assume the condition is always not controlled? 

 

 

[bearded frog]

The plans I have seen ask you if you have any history of psychiatric illness, and if so there is at least a two year exclusion for psych disorders. After two years you can have your plan reviewed and if you are not currently being treated for a disorder you may be eligible to get the psych coverage, however if you are currently or recently received treatment (ie on an antidepressant or seeing a therapist) it would be a preexisting condition and not covered. I think you can have it reviewed every 5 years or so if you stop receiving treatment at some point though.

[Indiculas]

28 minutes ago, bearded frog said:

The plans I have seen ask you if you have any history of psychiatric illness, and if so there is at least a two year exclusion for psych disorders. After two years you can have your plan reviewed and if you are not currently being treated for a disorder you may be eligible to get the psych coverage, however if you are currently or recently received treatment (ie on an antidepressant or seeing a therapist) it would be a preexisting condition and not covered. I think you can have it reviewed every 5 years or so if you stop receiving treatment at some point though.

Thank you! Does this change if you have claimed benefits for permanent disability before? I ask because I self-declared my psychiatric condition to be permanent on OSAP to receive additional grants and have the opportunity to complete a lighter workload while staying full-time. During undergrad, it was believed my condition would be permanent. However, I have since learned how to manage things much better and am no longer receiving treatment (medication, therapist, physician, etc) ... What your thoughts?

[bearded frog]

Sorry, I can only answer general questions. For your specific situation I would definitely sit down with a broker who should be happy to go over it with you.