Protuity is the only approved disability insurance broker with Guardian GSI Disability Insurance for Hackensack Meridian Health. Our Guaranteed Standard Issue offer includes exclusive pricing and policies only available to residents and fellows in the below locations.
Available To Residents & Fellows At The Following Locations:
Hackensack University Medical Center
Jersey Shore University Medical Center
JFK University Medical Center
Bayshore Medical Center
Joseph M. Sanzair Children's Hospital
K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital
Mountainside Medical Center
Ocean University Medical Center
Old Bridge Medical Center
Palisades Medical Center
Pascack Valley Medical Center
Raritan Bay Medical Center
Riverview Medical Center
Southern Ocean Medical Center
Pediatric Care Center at Raritan Bay
What Exactly is Guardian GSI Disability Insurance for Hackensack Meridian Health?
GSI stands for Guaranteed Standard Issue. In other words, GSI is an individual disability insurance policy that has no medical evaluation during your application process. As a result, even individuals with pre-existing conditions can qualify, making it a highly sought-after option.
Luckily, there is a Guardian GSI disability insurance for Hackensack Meridian Health, only available through Protuity. Notably, GSI is a top disability insurance plan for physicians, with similar features to fully underwritten disability insurance:
- Specialty-specific total disability definitions — also known as true own occupation.
- Guaranteed future increases in monthly benefit — up to $15,000.
- The insurance company cannot change your coverage or premiums — guaranteed renewable and non-cancelable.
Understanding the Differences Between Group, Individual and GSI Disability Insurance
Group Disability Insurance
Employer-sponsored (group) coverage has several limitations that do not meet the needs of high-income professionals, such as physicians. For instance, group plans often lack true own-occupation language, which is the top definition of disability. Additionally, group insurance is not portable, meaning you lose coverage if you change jobs.
Despite these drawbacks, group disability insurance does have one notable advantage: no medical underwriting or qualification for coverage.
Fully Underwritten: Individual Disability Insurance
Traditional individual disability insurance offers more comprehensive coverage tailored to your specialty and needs, but requires medical underwriting. In contrast to group disability insurance, if you have significant health risks, you may face coverage limitations, exclusions, or even a denial for insurance.
GSI: Individual Disability Insurance
GSI disability insurance bridges the gap between group and fully underwritten individual disability insurance. It eliminates the need for medical underwriting while offering the same robust benefits as the top disability insurance plans. In addition, GSI is offered from a top disability insurance company, such as Guardian!
Qualification for Hackensack Meridian Disability Insurance
This GSI offering is available to residents and fellows of Hackensack Meridian Health who have “not been declined or given a modified offer of individual disability insurance through a carrier other than Guardian more than nine months after their hire date or in the past five years, whichever is shorter.”
Please keep in mind that even an exclusion for a fully underwritten individual disability insurance plan is considered a modified offer. Should you apply with another company before Guardian's GSI plan, it could prevent you from being eligible for this unique benefit moving forward.
The application window closes 90 days after you finish your residency or fellowship program at Hackensack Meridian.
Protuity is the only approved disability insurance broker with Guardian GSI Disability Insurance for Hackensack Meridian Health. Our Guaranteed Standard Issue offer includes exclusive pricing and policies only available to residents and fellows in the below locations.
Available To Residents & Fellows At The Following Locations:
Hackensack University Medical Center
Jersey Shore University Medical Center
JFK University Medical Center
Bayshore Medical Center
Joseph M. Sanzair Children's Hospital
K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital
Mountainside Medical Center
Ocean University Medical Center
Old Bridge Medical Center
Palisades Medical Center
Pascack Valley Medical Center
Raritan Bay Medical Center
Riverview Medical Center
Southern Ocean Medical Center
Pediatric Care Center at Raritan Bay
What is the Difference Between Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI), Individual and Group Disability Insurance?
Group disability insurance is for employees or members of organizations with no customization options. It is coverage offered by employers, and often paid for by the employer, but it doesn't provide the ability to take the coverage with you if you change employers. Your residency or fellowship group policy from Hackensack Meridian Health will not stay with you when you change employers. The same will be true if you change employers as an attending physician. Group long-term disability coverage has plenty of shortfalls, including no True Own Occupation definition of total disability, benefits being taxable when collected, offset of benefits if collecting other sources of income while disabled - such as Social Security benefits or Workers' Compensation, and it is not Guaranteed Renewable or Noncancelable - meaning your employer can cancel or change the benefits offered at any time. However, all employees qualify for non-contributory group disability insurance since there is no underwriting.
Individual 'fully underwritten' disability insurance is customizable and offers portability and individual ownership of the policy. However, what makes most individual disability insurance 'fully underwritten' is that you will need to be approved through medical underwriting. When you apply for individual fully underwritten disability insurance, you could either be approved with no penalties, approved but with exclusions or other modifications, such as price increase or reduction of benefits, or declined and not offered a policy. However, even those with no major pre-existing conditions could receive a modified offer or denial for situations such as self-prescribing medication, recent medication changes, noncompliance with medical advice or treatment, etc.
Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI) disability insurance aims to bridge the gap, while providing customization (though not to the extent of individual 'fully underwritten' disability insurance). Similar to individual disability insurance, these plans are portable, Guaranteed Renewable, and NonCancelable, and have the strongest definition of total disability for physicians - True Own Occupation. This GSI option is available to all residents and fellows through DrDisabilityQuotes.com, exclusively at Hackensack Meridian Health. GSI should be a great option if you're searching for individual disability insurance!
Who Qualifies For Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI) Disability Insurance?
This GSI option is available to residents and fellows who have not been declined or given a modified offer of individual disability insurance through a carrier other than Guardian more than nine months after their hire date or in the past five years, whichever is shorter.
**Please note that even an exclusion for fully underwritten individual disability insurance is considered a modified offer!**
Why You Should Apply with GSI Before Any Fully Underwritten Disability Insurance?
GSI is available to all residents and fellows at your Hackensack Meridian Health location. However, as mentioned above, you will not qualify for the GSI option if you have received a denial or modified approval from any previous disability insurance application. Should you apply with another company before Guardian's GSI plan, it could prevent you from being eligible for this unique benefit moving forward. Applying with another company when you know a GSI offer exists is gambling with your financial future; it is never a good idea when there is an option with full benefits at your fingertips.
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We'll present your options and thoroughly review them with you so you can move forward confidently. Our brokers make it seamless and easy — simply fill out the form below to get started.
We are not affiliated with the listed institutions. We are an independent organization that hold exclusive offers from insurance companies to be able to offer this GSI option for residents and fellows at select institutions. This is not a group nor employer benefit as Guaranteed Standard Issue policies are individual and voluntary.