Top carriers for Physician Assistants
All five carriers below can be written as true own-occupation for most professions. Guardian and Ameritas build it into the base definition, MassMutual and Principal deliver it through their own-occupation rider or definition, and at The Standard it comes through a rider whose availability depends on your occupation class. Your optimal carrier depends on your specific specialty, income structure, and state. We compare all five side-by-side in every analysis.
| Carrier | Product | AM Best rating | Contract strength |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Provider Choice | A++ (Superior) | Strongest contract of the five, in our view |
 | Platinum Advantage | A (Excellent) | Contract clarity |
 | Income Protector | A+ (Superior) | Most flexible underwriting in our experience; deep rider menu |
 | Radius Choice | A++ (Superior) | Mutual-company dividends; Own Occupation Rider available |
 | DInamic Cornerstone | A (Excellent) | Competitive pricing; highest BOE limit of the carriers we place |
Provider Choice
- AM Best
- A++ (Superior)
- Strength
- Strongest contract of the five, in our view
Radius Choice
- AM Best
- A++ (Superior)
- Strength
- Mutual-company dividends; Own Occupation Rider available
Income Protector
- AM Best
- A+ (Superior)
- Strength
- Most flexible underwriting in our experience; deep rider menu
Platinum Advantage
- AM Best
- A (Excellent)
- Strength
- Contract clarity
DInamic Cornerstone
- AM Best
- A (Excellent)
- Strength
- Competitive pricing; highest BOE limit of the carriers we place
Get a comparison of all five carriers tailored to your specialty
Get a Quote ComparisonWhy do physician assistants need specialized disability coverage?
PAs need coverage written around their actual clinical scope, because the profession spans nearly every medical and surgical specialty. You diagnose, prescribe, perform procedures, manage patient panels, and carry clinical responsibility that generates substantial income. Your disability insurance must reflect that scope. Generic coverage designed for a broad healthcare category will not protect the income you have built or the clinical role you perform.
PAs sit in the middle of the carriers' clinical occupation scales, below the top physician tiers. In the carriers' current occupation guides a PA generally lands at 4M with Guardian and Principal, 4A with MassMutual (5A in primary care), 4P with The Standard, and 5M with Ameritas, and what you do all day can still move the assignment. Class drives premium, benefit ceiling, and rider eligibility. On The Standard's contract, for instance, the Own Occupation Rider requires class 3A/3P/3D or higher, which the PA class meets.
The same PA, described two different ways, can come back with materially different classes and prices, which is why precise duty documentation at application and a five-carrier comparison are the two moves that matter most.
What does disability insurance cost a physician assistant?
A PA's premium climbs with age at issue, and the table shows how far. Each row prices $7,500 a month at the PA classes above using 2026 list rates, with own-occupation coverage and a benefit period to age 65 in every cell.
| Profile | Monthly benefit | 180-day wait | 180-day wait + inflation protection | 90-day wait + inflation protection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male, 30 | $7,500 | $170–$205 | $210–$235 | $245–$280 |
| Female, 30 | $7,500 | $265–$320 | $305–$385 | $360–$450 |
| Male, 35 | $7,500 | $205–$240 | $245–$265 | $290–$315 |
| Female, 35 | $7,500 | $310–$385 | $360–$450 | $425–$530 |
| Male, 45 | $7,500 | $305–$390 | $355–$420 | $415–$495 |
| Female, 45 | $7,500 | $475–$605 | $530–$655 | $620–$770 |
Lowest to highest carrier, monthly, 2026 list price, Texas basis. Figures include residual coverage, the no-cost increase riders, and the own-occupation rider at carriers that sell one separately. They exclude the catastrophic disability rider, and inflation protection appears only where a column says so.
At 30, a man insuring $7,500 a month with a 180-day wait sees $170 to $205 a month across the five carriers. Shortening the wait to 90 days and adding inflation protection lifts that to $245 to $280. Buying at 35 instead, a man pays $205 to $240 for the 180-day design and a woman pays $310 to $385.
These ranges come from Seaworthy's 2026 quote study, which priced carrier illustrations in August 2026 for applicants aged 28, 35, and 45 at benefits of $5,000, $10,000, and $15,000. We interpolated the age-30 rows and the $7,500 benefit from those points. Female rows use each carrier's measured female-to-male ratio. The 180-day figures equal 85% of the 90-day illustrations. At the carrier that classes primary-care PAs a step higher, the table prices the general PA class, so a primary-care PA may pay less there. The price you see will also depend on where you live, your medical history, and any employer or association discount you qualify for, and the cost breakdown in our education library shows how carriers assemble a premium.
How does clinical setting change a PA's disability risk?
Your clinical setting decides which conditions would stop your work, so no two PA positions call for the same coverage. The demands of emergency medicine PA work differ fundamentally from those of a PA in dermatology, orthopedic surgery, or psychiatric practice.
Surgical and procedural PAs
If you serve as a surgical first assistant, perform procedures independently, or work in an interventional setting, your hands are your primary clinical tool. Hand tremor, nerve injury, carpal tunnel syndrome, or a cervical disc herniation that limits fine motor control could end your procedural career.
A policy that defines your occupation as "physician assistant" without specifying your surgical or procedural role leaves room for the insurer to argue you could work in a non-procedural PA role and deny benefits. Your policy must distinguish between procedural and non-procedural PA practice.
Surgical PAs also face physical demands beyond fine motor work, including prolonged standing, retraction forces during procedures, and holding fixed positions for hours. A back injury or a shoulder condition, for example, can rule out that work. Check that the policy covers back, shoulder, and repetitive-use conditions in full, with no exclusion on the body parts a surgical PA depends on.
Emergency medicine PAs
Emergency departments combine physical demands (patient lifting, procedural work, managing combative patients) with cognitive intensity (rapid diagnostic reasoning across all patient populations) and rotating shift work. More than one kind of condition could stop that work, such as a physical injury, a serious infection, PTSD, or a sleep disorder.
The mental and nervous limitation deserves line-item attention on every quote for an emergency setting, because how it applies varies by carrier and occupation class. Confirm the benefit duration in writing rather than assuming it.
Primary care and outpatient PAs
Primary care runs on high patient volume, sustained concentration, and repeated hands-on examination. The work also includes managing chronic disease and delivering difficult diagnoses. A condition that impairs concentration, such as depression, can stop that work as surely as a hand injury stops surgical assisting.
Primary care PAs may assume their lower procedural volume makes the definition matter less, yet the role still depends on cognitive capacity. Your policy's mental and nervous terms deserve scrutiny for exactly this reason, alongside a disability definition that accounts for the cognitive demands of your role.
Orthopedic and sports medicine PAs
Casting, joint injections, fracture reductions, and surgical assistance place sustained demands on your upper extremities. A rotator cuff injury, lateral epicondylitis, or a cervical condition can take away the strength and reach that work requires. Make sure your policy does not exclude musculoskeletal conditions or limit back and spine claims, since those are the claims that would end this kind of work.
Can a physician assistant get true own-occupation coverage?
Yes, true own-occupation coverage is available to PAs, and the definition of disability in your contract determines whether a claim pays or gets denied. For PAs, this provision carries particular weight because of the breadth of your professional license. You are licensed to practice across specialties, which means an insurer using a broad occupation definition could argue that a disability preventing your surgical PA work still leaves you capable of non-procedural PA employment.
A true own-occupation policy evaluates disability based on your ability to perform the duties of your specific PA role. If you cannot perform surgical first assist due to a hand injury, you receive benefits, regardless of whether you could theoretically work as a PA in another setting. This specificity is what separates a policy that protects your income from a policy that protects the insurer's payout.
Review the exact policy language. Some carriers use "own occupation" in marketing materials but define it narrowly in the contract, referencing your occupation as physician assistant without specialty distinction. Press for the most specific definition available and document your clinical duties during underwriting. That documentation becomes the foundation of any future claim.
Real contract language shows what to check. Take The Standard's Platinum Advantage policy (form B180 (7/17), filed as ICC17-B180 in interstate-compact states), whose base definition is regular-occupation. Under it, total disability means you are "unable to perform the Substantial And Material Duties of your Regular Occupation" and "not engaged in any other job or occupation for wage or profit." Its Own Occupation Rider, sold only to occupation classes 3A/3P/3D and higher, deletes that second requirement, so benefits keep paying while you work and earn in a different occupation.
Contract language varies by state and edition. The issued policy governs. For a PA, the working question on any quote is whether the class you are assigned qualifies for that kind of rider, because occupation class, not just the carrier, decides what you can get.
One distinction is worth setting straight. PAs are not physicians, and carriers classify you separately, so the enhanced MD/DO own-occupation definitions and the physician specialty-recognition features built around medical billing codes do not apply to your contract. That does not leave you without true own-occupation protection.
The strongest PA policies still tie the definition to the substantial and material duties of your specific clinical role, and the practical work is documenting that role precisely at underwriting, including your procedural duties, your specialty setting, and your full earned income, including bonus, call stipends, and moonlighting, so the benefit reflects what you earn rather than a base-salary figure.
Can a PA insure bonus and call income?
Yes, an individual policy can be structured to cover documented bonus, overtime, and call income, which employer group plans typically leave out. The income at stake is well documented. The Bureau of Labor Statistics records that "The median annual wage for physician assistants was $133,260 in May 2024." That median often understates the full picture, because PA compensation increasingly includes productivity bonuses, overtime pay, call stipends, and income from locum tenens or moonlighting shifts.
Employer group disability plans typically cover base salary only. If a meaningful share of your total income comes from variable compensation, you are leaving that income unprotected under a group plan alone.
The key is applying with income documentation that reflects your full compensation, not just your base salary offer letter. Two years of tax returns, pay stubs showing bonus payments, and documentation of call or shift differential income allow carriers to underwrite your actual earnings and offer a benefit that reflects your true financial exposure.
What happens to a PA's disability coverage after a job change?
Employer group coverage generally ends when you leave the job, so PAs who change positions lose group coverage at each move. You may start in one specialty, move to another, transition from hospital employment to private practice, or relocate across states. Each change disrupts employer-provided group disability coverage. Some employers impose waiting periods before coverage begins. Others offer plans with weaker occupation definitions or lower benefit caps than your previous employer.
An individual disability policy eliminates this volatility. It travels with you across employers, specialties, and states. The benefit amount, occupation definition, and premium remain constant. You own the policy, not your employer. This portability is particularly valuable for PAs who anticipate career changes, specialty transitions, or geographic moves during the next decade.
How can a PA protect student loan payments during a disability?
A student loan rider adds a supplemental monthly benefit designated for student loan payments during disability. A disability that eliminates your income while leaving education debt in place creates cascading financial damage. Federal loan programs may offer income-driven repayment adjustments or disability discharge for total and permanent disability, but private loans generally do not.
For PAs carrying significant education debt, this rider closes a gap that the base policy does not address. Evaluate this option during the application process, particularly if your monthly loan payments consume a meaningful percentage of your take-home pay.
How do carriers compare for physician assistants?
Each of the five carriers sets its own PA class, definition, and price. The carrier that classes primary-care PAs best, for example, may also attach a tighter mental and nervous limitation, so every quote gets read term by term.
We compare policies across multiple carriers for every PA we work with, matching your clinical specialty, income structure, and practice setting to the carrier that offers the strongest combination of definition clarity, occupation classification, and premium value. A side-by-side comparison reveals differences that are invisible when working with a single carrier or a generalist agent.
When should a PA apply for disability insurance?
The first year of PA practice is the application window that sets up everything after it. Your health record is cleanest, your insurability is maximum, and your premium is locked at its lowest point. Each added year can bring health events, medication histories, and specialist visits that complicate underwriting.
Our placed book shows how often that record costs people. A 2026 audit found an exclusion or rating attached to about 28% of all the policies we have placed, across every profession we serve (the breakdown is in our research). The PA who applies at 26 with no medical history secures a lifetime premium and health class that the PA who applies at 32 with a back injury history cannot match.
Structure the policy to grow with you as well. Most new policies we place carry a benefit-increase feature so coverage can rise with pay without new medical underwriting. Over the last two years, more than 70% of our placements also included a COLA rider (2026 book audit), which keeps a long claim's benefit in step with inflation.
If you are already several years into practice, do not let that delay you further. Apply with your current health status and income documentation. The cost of waiting another year almost always exceeds the cost of any underwriting complication you face today. PAs are one of several licensed fields we treat as a group on the professionals hub, which covers the shared classing and contract questions.