Business Builder Plan Blog

Medical residency can be a very trying time in your career. There's lack of sleep, lack of money – and the accumulation of student loans. It may feel overwhelming to even think about your financial future when you are trying to get through your day-to-day responsibilities. Yet your world may be turned upside down if you became too sick or injured to work. Statistically speaking, you have approximately a one in three chance of losing your income to a sickness or injury between the ages of 30 and 65.

Individual disability insurance can help offset this risk. But when is it ideal to start this process? The answer is the sooner the better.

One possible solution to respond to the problems would be a proposal by The Hamilton Project. The Hamilton Project details sound solutions for evolving beyond traditional employer-sponsored health insurance. The main tenants of their proposal include:

A. State established "insurance exchanges"
B. Shift employers traditional role as sponsor to facilitator of coverage
C. Reform of the tax laws to more fairly handle the needs of our needy

A. A state insurance exchange can be thought of as a stock exchange on Wall Street. Although the insurance exchange would not exist to make money, it would serve to bring together the major players in health care; insurance companies, regulators, and consumers. A series of state determined minimums could be established as the ground rules and those insurance carriers wanting participation can sign on to compete with their various products. Care must be taken not to create any new regulation, enlarging the already oversized bureaucracy and costs. A simple mandate that ERISA approved health plans would also meet exchange minimums should be enough.