As part of your Collective Agreement, Ontario medical residents are automatically covered under a group Long Term Disability Plan designed to protect your income in the event you are unable to work due to a sickness or injury. Desjardins Financial Life Assurance Company is the carrier of the plan.

Your income protection is provided in two parts. Should you become totally disabled and unable to perform the duties of your regular occupation, your salary will be continued until the earlier of:

1. The end of your contract year (in most cases, the contract year runs from July 1 to June 30 of the following year) or,
2. 6 months, whichever comes first.

Once salary continuation ends, PAIRO has arranged for you to be covered by a Long Term Disability contract that pays 70% of your basic salary and call stipends, on a tax-free basis, subject to certain reductions, up to age 65 so long as you remain totally disabled. This is the only benefit that you pay for and the premiums are deducted from your paycheque. No medical evidence is required to participate in the plan and your coverage automatically increases with your salary. There is also a Cost of Living Benefit, which will increase your monthly benefits by the lesser of 4% or the change in the Consumer Price Index on an annual basis in the event you are disabled for more than a year. For instance, if inflation were a constant 4%, a claimant starting with a $1000 monthly benefit would receive $1480.24 after 10 years and $2191.12 after 20 years.

Important!
Please note that, unlike some private disability insurance offerings that were made available to medical students, you are covered immediately for all medical problems, whether they existed prior to joining PAIRO or started after that date. Some of these private programs exclude any disabilities occurring within the first two years of the coverage being in force caused by any medical conditions that existed for the two years prior to purchasing the coverage.

Upon Completion of your Residency:
Upon completion of your residency, you, like many of your colleagues, may choose to work as a self-employed physician. Self-employment has its own unique challenges, one of them being that you must rely on yourself to provide the benefits many employed individuals take for granted. Disability insurance is one of the most important benefits anyone can have and PAIRO, in conjunction with the Ontario Medical Association, has developed the Essentials insurance program to help you make a seamless transition from your resident's group plan to your own Association Group Life and Disability Insurance program.

We say "seamless" because the Essentials program allows you, upon successful completion of your residency, to purchase Life, Disability Income and Professional Overhead Expense coverage, without any medical or financial underwriting! That's right: NO blood test, NO medical exams, NO attending physician reports, NO health questions: the processing is hassle free! You cannot be turned down! In addition, the premiums for Disability Insurance will be reduced by 50% for the first two years of coverage under Essentials!!

For more information go to www.OMAinsurance.com.