Are You Guys Getting The Cfms Disability Insurance?

[darknebula]

Hi everyone,

 

I am wondering what people think of the CFMS disability insurance?They did a presentation at our school about how its so great and I got emails from them later about how its a train you dont wanna miss and how the deadline is coming near. They propose fixed premiums and upto 4000$ per month insurance. They also advertise no medical exam or lab test is needed. THey do have a 24 months clause namely a preexisting illness within 24 moths before and after coverage period begins will not be covered.

 

Doesn't this all sound too good to be true? Ive never dealt with insurance companies before and wanna make an informed choice before locking into them. I am always a bit paranoid of dealing with financial institutions. 

 

So is anyone else getting it? Why or why not? Has anyone discovered any "cathces" to this program? 

[anxious_101]

I too would like to know what other residents thought of the question posed above? At our school, we had a number of presentations on this topic recently. The impression I got is that the Canada Life disability insurance is the best, followed by RBC. The OMA plan is the worst apparently. Thoughts?

 

Thanks in advance.

[futureGP]

The real question is, do we really need disability insurance? I got auto insurance in case i get into a MVA, and if I get severely disabled I am going to court to get all the money i need for potential earnings etc.

 

If I slip and fall, I'm lawyering up and suing the owner of that property

 

It's still ~150-250 a month for that disability insurance, I'm thinking I can put away that much money on a monthly basis in a good investment portfolio and probably get more bang for buck when I really need it later on and can cash on it when I need it not only when I get disabled.

 

How else am I going to get disabled? - plus during residency, we're covered at least partially by PARO so it's not like I got nowhere to go (even if PARO's disability insurance isn't as nice).

 

When I went to one of those presentations, I was also under the impression that we can get it as long as we're still a member of the CFMS. So correct me if I am wrong, but aren't we technically members for life with CFMS? so I can get the insurance whenever I want to?

[newfie]

There are a ton of ways you can become disabled other than falling & getting into an MVA. Even with all the physical issues, don't forget about mental health causes of disability.

[ploughboy]

"What, me worry?" - Alfred E. Neuman

 

 

You could be walking home as a storm is brewing and a gust of wind could come up, knocking a billboard off a wall and hitting you from behind, giving you a high c-spine injury.

 

You could be walking by a construction site, and a bunch of bricks could fall onto your head.

 

You could be leaving the mall just as a senior citizen mistakes the accelerator for the brake pedal on his Buick, and pins you against a bank machine.  Until the firefighters get you out it's really hard to breath and your poor hypoxic brain isn't quite the same afterward.

 

You could get out of your car to help a stranded motorist and get smoked by a speeding SUV.  You'll survive, but only after arresting twice during your trauma laparotomy.  Oh, and you don't have legs anymore because they were so badly damaged that they had to be amputated.

 

The malicious gods of entropy could cause a piano to fall out of the sky and land on top of you.

 

A meth-head could head-on your car as he's trying to escape from the police in a stolen taxi.  He walks away without a scratch.  You don't.

 

An industrial snow-blower could run you over* (see "we had to amputate your legs", above)

 

You could get pushed in front of a subway train.

 

You could get metastatic colon cancer in your 30s.

 

You could get an inoperable brain tumor in your 20s.

 

Your periods of high achievement interspersed with melancholia could turn into full-on bipolar affective disorder. 

 

You could wind up in an ICU on a vent with PJP because that cute girl/boy in undergrad gave you more than a smile and a wink.

 

You could get the flu, and a bacterial superinfection, and spend a month on extracorporeal life support.  You survive, but your lung function is compromised, recovering your physical strength will take years, and you now have PTSD.

 

You could develop pulmonary hypertension for no good reason, and not be able to climb a flight of stairs or walk a city block.

 

You could head the ball in soccer and dissect your carotid artery.

 

You could get an antibiotic script for a URTI and find out the hard way that you have a congenital long QT syndrome.

 

You could drop dead at a highschool dance.  Good thing your friends know CPR.

 

You'll have to give up your starring role in the highschool play this year because you can't articulate your lines.  When your parents finally take you to the ER because you can't swallow your dinner, you'll learn two new words: myesthenia gravis.

 

Stray bullet, wrong place, wrong time.  'nuff said.

 

Feeling a little tired, memory not so good, got some double vision?  It's not because you're studying hard for your exams, it's because you have a new diagnosis of MS.

 

 

 

Above are all true stories (except one). So off the top of my head there's 20 instances I've seen in the last few years where young healthy people who were doing all the right things with their lives have everything up-ended through no fault of their own.  If I gave it some thought I could come up with a tonne more, but those are the ones that stick in my brain.

 

My point isn't to live in fear.  My point is that bad things happen to good people, and these things sometimes literally come out of the blue.  If you've gotten into medical school you're on a track to have a financially secure future.  You need to take steps to protect that future, and having a good disability insurance policy is one of them.  I don't care who you get one with, just get one!

 

Sometimes, dead is better.

 

 

 

 

*Pro-tip:  If you drive an industrial snowblower and run somebody over in a parking lot where there are surveillance cameras, don't just act like it didn't happen and drive away all casual-like.  The police _will_ figure it out.

[rmorelan]

The real question is, do we really need disability insurance? I got auto insurance in case i get into a MVA, and if I get severely disabled I am going to court to get all the money i need for potential earnings etc.

 

If I slip and fall, I'm lawyering up and suing the owner of that property

 

It's still ~150-250 a month for that disability insurance, I'm thinking I can put away that much money on a monthly basis in a good investment portfolio and probably get more bang for buck when I really need it later on and can cash on it when I need it not only when I get disabled.

 

How else am I going to get disabled? - plus during residency, we're covered at least partially by PARO so it's not like I got nowhere to go (even if PARO's disability insurance isn't as nice).

 

When I went to one of those presentations, I was also under the impression that we can get it as long as we're still a member of the CFMS. So correct me if I am wrong, but aren't we technically members for life with CFMS? so I can get the insurance whenever I want to?

You are not a member for life of the CFMS - not a med student anymore.

 

And it is not 150 a month. I am older and thus more likely to get disabled statistically speaking and for me it is 600 a year. So if I can disabled I get 8K a month indexed, plus can retrain with no loss of benefits. Tax free of course.

 

There are a lot of things that can knocked out - Have a friend with MS actually. Another with severe mental illness.

 

You can lawyer up all you want but there are big risks there.

 

Dealers choice of course - to me the only thing that can mess up my plans financially is disability. So I got that covered. For 50 a month, and less for you, that isn't bad.

[Lactic Folly]

 

 

The malicious gods of entropy could cause a piano to fall out of the sky and land on top of you.

 

Quite the look into the life of a ER doc... barely blinked after reading this one.

[p0tus]

Out of all the different personal insurance products available, I would rank disability insurance as one of the most important products to purchase.

 

Along with the coverage amount, some good questions to ask the agent is if it has an "own occupation rider" clause. Basically means that they will still pay out the insurance if you are disabled and cannot do your trained job but can do something different. Once you start practicing you can look into your provincial medical association for part of your disability insurance payments (in BC they pay premiums for $6K/month of disability insurance).

 

The other question is how long the waiting period is (usually 1, 3 or 6 months). The longer the waiting period is, the cheaper the premiums are but it also means that you would have to wait longer to get the money if you did become disabled. One way to save money on this is to build up a 3-6 month emergency fund and then the waiting period can be longer.

 

Rmorelan's premiums seem very reasonable. I currently pay $90/month for $4000 monthly coverage indexed. The BC medical association pays for $6K/month.

[ploughboy]

Quite the look into the life of a ER doc... barely blinked after reading this one.

 

Ya, that's the one made-up example but it might as well be real.

 

Doing what I do for a living has certainly changed my perspective on life, death, and day-to-day living.

[NLengr]

 

An industrial snow-blower could run you over* (see "we had to amputate your legs", above)

 

 

I wonder if this was the same case I was involved with? The case was crazy from the start of hospitalization until discharge.

 

I'll also add (both patients were 30 or less):

 

Feeling SOB and go to the doctor? CXR shows widespread metastatic poor risk cancer.

 

Mild upper left quadrant pain? 10 cm malignant mass.

[rmorelan]

I wonder if this was the same case I was involved with? The case was crazy from the start of hospitalization until discharge.

 

I'll also add (both patients were 30 or less):

 

Feeling SOB and go to the doctor? CXR shows widespread metastatic poor risk cancer.

 

Mild upper left quadrant pain? 10 cm malignant mass.

 

on of the joys of being a radiology resident is you just get to see stuff like that on a daily basis.

 

every time you turn around.... ha, important to remember it is still rare, but you do become aware of risks.

[rmorelan]

"What, me worry?" - Alfred E. Neuman

 

 

You could be walking home as a storm is brewing and a gust of wind could come up, knocking a billboard off a wall and hitting you from behind, giving you a high c-spine injury.

 

You could be walking by a construction site, and a bunch of bricks could fall onto your head.

 

You could be leaving the mall just as a senior citizen mistakes the accelerator for the brake pedal on his Buick, and pins you against a bank machine.  Until the firefighters get you out it's really hard to breath and your poor hypoxic brain isn't quite the same afterward.

 

You could get out of your car to help a stranded motorist and get smoked by a speeding SUV.  You'll survive, but only after arresting twice during your trauma laparotomy.  Oh, and you don't have legs anymore because they were so badly damaged that they had to be amputated.

 

The malicious gods of entropy could cause a piano to fall out of the sky and land on top of you.

 

A meth-head could head-on your car as he's trying to escape from the police in a stolen taxi.  He walks away without a scratch.  You don't.

 

An industrial snow-blower could run you over* (see "we had to amputate your legs", above)

 

You could get pushed in front of a subway train.

 

You could get metastatic colon cancer in your 30s.

 

You could get an inoperable brain tumor in your 20s.

 

Your periods of high achievement interspersed with melancholia could turn into full-on bipolar affective disorder. 

 

You could wind up in an ICU on a vent with PJP because that cute girl/boy in undergrad gave you more than a smile and a wink.

 

You could get the flu, and a bacterial superinfection, and spend a month on extracorporeal life support.  You survive, but your lung function is compromised, recovering your physical strength will take years, and you now have PTSD.

 

You could develop pulmonary hypertension for no good reason, and not be able to climb a flight of stairs or walk a city block.

 

You could head the ball in soccer and dissect your carotid artery.

 

You could get an antibiotic script for a URTI and find out the hard way that you have a congenital long QT syndrome.

 

You could drop dead at a highschool dance.  Good thing your friends know CPR.

 

You'll have to give up your starring role in the highschool play this year because you can't articulate your lines.  When your parents finally take you to the ER because you can't swallow your dinner, you'll learn two new words: myesthenia gravis.

 

Stray bullet, wrong place, wrong time.  'nuff said.

 

Feeling a little tired, memory not so good, got some double vision?  It's not because you're studying hard for your exams, it's because you have a new diagnosis of MS.

 

 

 

Above are all true stories (except one). So off the top of my head there's 20 instances I've seen in the last few years where young healthy people who were doing all the right things with their lives have everything up-ended through no fault of their own.  If I gave it some thought I could come up with a tonne more, but those are the ones that stick in my brain.

 

My point isn't to live in fear.  My point is that bad things happen to good people, and these things sometimes literally come out of the blue.  If you've gotten into medical school you're on a track to have a financially secure future.  You need to take steps to protect that future, and having a good disability insurance policy is one of them.  I don't care who you get one with, just get one!

 

Sometimes, dead is better.

 

 

 

 

*Pro-tip:  If you drive an industrial snowblower and run somebody over in a parking lot where there are surveillance cameras, don't just act like it didn't happen and drive away all casual-like.  The police _will_ figure it out.

 

as a side note - that is one impressive list

[NLengr]

as a side note - that is one impressive list

 Isn't he a critical care guy? That would make sense to see so much crap stories. You deal with disasters regularly.

 

I'd be more impressed if he was derm or something. Then he'd just be some kind of unholy sh*t magnet.

[conan88]

Is it reasonable to get $500 of CFMS disability insurance before we graduate just to get our foot in the door and then raise the disability insurance after residency?

[rmorelan]

you can do that - only question I guess is whether you would be willing to accept the risk of living the rest of your life on the amount you get fro the 500 (not a coy question - the risk is low, and you get insurance in residency but the risk is present and roughly 5K a month may not be what you were hoping for).

[ploughboy]

I saw "pedestrian vs industrial snowblower" at Sunnybrook circa January 2011.  You?

 

I wonder if this was the same case I was involved with? The case was crazy from the start of hospitalization until discharge.

 

[ploughboy]

I'm the world's most bad-ass dentist...

 

(actuallly, ER/ICU)

 

 Isn't he a critical care guy? That would make sense to see so much crap stories. You deal with disasters regularly.

 

I'd be more impressed if he was derm or something. Then he'd just be some kind of unholy sh*t magnet.

[NLengr]

I saw "pedestrian vs industrial snowblower" at Sunnybrook circa January 2011.  You?

Nope. Different one then. I'm a bit more worried now if there are multiple pedestrian vs. industrial snow blower accidents in the country over the span of a couple years.

[ploughboy]

Nope. Different one then. I'm a bit more worried now if there are multiple pedestrian vs. industrial snow blower accidents in the country over the span of a couple years.

 

Looks like we've got ourselves the beginning of a case series...

[rmorelan]

Looks like we've got ourselves the beginning of a case series...

 

yup....

[ploughboy]

And to add to the case series:  http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03/24/coroner-investigating-body-chewed-up-by-snowblower-in-quebec-we-think-we-know-who-it-is-but-we-cant-be-sure/

 

 

"We think we know who it is, but we can't be sure because the body is in pieces..."

 

(sorry, now the thread is really off topic)