Top carriers for Radiologists
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; billing-code own-occ |
 | 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; billing-code own-occ
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 ComparisonHow do carriers class radiologists?
Radiology looks like one specialty on a business card and prices like two on a disability quote, because several carriers class interventional work below diagnostic. Reading images away from the patient counts as a favorable non-procedural specialty, while image-guided procedures are hands-on work that carriers class lower.
The mid-2026 producer guides place diagnostic radiology at Ameritas 6M, Principal 5M, MassMutual and The Standard 5P, and Guardian 4M. Where a carrier splits the two, interventional work drops a tier, to 4M at Principal, 4P at MassMutual, and 4S at The Standard, and Guardian holds radiologists at 4M either way.
That split alone can move the premium by a full class. Our physician occupation class grid lays the assignments side by side.
A radiologist whose practice mixes both should make sure the application reflects the real distribution of duties, because carriers generally set the class by the riskier work, and getting the diagnostic-versus-interventional characterization right is a primary lever on the premium.
What does disability insurance cost a radiologist?
For a 35-year-old man in diagnostic radiology, Seaworthy's 2026 quote study came in at $220 to $305 a month for $10,000 of monthly benefit behind a 180-day wait. Rows are priced at the diagnostic classes above (Ameritas 6M, Principal 5M, MassMutual and The Standard 5P, Guardian 4M), and an interventional radiologist should expect higher numbers at the carriers that class the work lower. True own-occupation, residual coverage, the increase riders, and benefits paid to 65 are built into every price.
| Profile | Monthly benefit | 180-day wait | 180-day wait + inflation protection | 90-day wait + inflation protection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male, 30 | $10,000 | $185–$250 | $225–$295 | $265–$345 |
| Female, 30 | $10,000 | $310–$395 | $360–$450 | $425–$530 |
| Male, 35 | $10,000 | $220–$305 | $265–$355 | $310–$415 |
| Female, 35 | $10,000 | $370–$485 | $425–$545 | $500–$640 |
| Male, 45 | $10,000 | $330–$465 | $385–$540 | $450–$635 |
| Female, 45 | $10,000 | $560–$730 | $625–$825 | $735–$970 |
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 pays $185 to $250 a month for the 180-day design, or $265 to $345 with inflation protection and a 90-day wait. The female row at 35 runs $370 to $485 on the 180-day design, and holding off until 45 puts a man at $330 to $465 for it.
Radiology's rows draw on Seaworthy's 2026 quote study. In August 2026 we ran carrier illustrations for ages 28, 35, and 45 and for benefits of $5,000, $10,000, and $15,000 a month, and the age-30 rows are interpolated between them. Female rows apply the female-to-male ratio measured at each carrier, and the 180-day prices are the 90-day illustrations scaled to 85%.
Mental and nervous benefits run the full period in every price, because none of the five carriers we place requires the 24-month limitation for radiology except in California and New York, where some carriers impose it, and on Principal's single-life Florida cases. No radiology discount is applied.
A real quote drifts from these ranges with your state of residence, your health, and any employer or association discount. The physician disability insurance cost study breaks out full-rider-package prices specialty by specialty, and the disability insurance cost guide explains how premiums come together.
Do radiologists get disability insurance discounts?
Yes, at two of the five carriers we place. Guardian's Preferred Occupation Discount takes 10% off for board-certified radiologists and radiation oncologists, who class 4M there, and The Standard gives 5% to select 5P specialties, a list that includes diagnostic radiology along with gastroenterology, neurology, and pediatrics. A policy sits with one carrier, so the two never combine on the same contract. The table above leaves both out, so a qualifying radiologist's quote at either carrier can land below the listed range.
What disables a radiologist?
A condition that degrades image interpretation, such as declining vision or a neurological diagnosis, is the career-ending risk. A radiologist's income rides on one high-value function, reading images accurately, hour after hour. That makes the disabling conditions for radiology less dramatic and more insidious than the injuries that end procedural careers.
A gradual decline in vision, or a neurological condition that degrades interpretation, ends the career even when the radiologist remains physically well and could do other work. Reading also means long seated sessions at the workstation, and a neck, back, or upper-extremity condition that rules those sessions out would cut into reading volume. Interventional radiologists depend as well on the hands and stamina that image-guided procedures require.
A radiology disability can begin as a partial loss, with reading volume cut back before it stops, and a residual disability rider pays on that partial loss of income.
What definition of disability should a radiologist insist on?
True own-occupation, measured against radiology specifically. A radiologist who can no longer read images could often still teach, consult, or move into administrative medicine, and a weak contract counts that remaining earning capacity against the claim. For a specialty this dependent on one cognitive-sensory skill, a definition that keeps paying while you earn elsewhere is close to the whole contract. The physician own-occupation guide shows how each carrier writes the definition and ties the covered occupation to radiology.
How much disability coverage can a radiologist buy?
Generally up to about $30,000 a month per carrier at radiology's classes, though documented income sets the working limit. Radiologists earned a median annual wage of $420,860 in May 2025, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, third highest among the physician specialties it lists. Pay at that level presses on the issue-and-participation limits carriers set for physicians, which scale with income rather than a flat percentage.
Radiology, diagnostic or interventional, sits in the $30,000 issue tier at all five carriers we place, so the income ladder alone caps the benefit. At the BLS median that ladder supports roughly $16,000 a month from one carrier (illustrative, interpolated from carrier ladders of about $13,500 at $300,000 of income and $18,000 at $500,000).
Past that point a single policy replaces a shrinking share of each added dollar, which is why we often layer coverage from more than one carrier for high earners and add an increase feature. Document everything, reading volume and partnership income included. Our benefit sizing guide shows how the limits behave as income rises.
Should a radiologist rely on group LTD?
Generally not as the core coverage. Radiologists we quote in hospital or group employment often hold group long-term disability, and against a radiology income it commonly comes up short on benefit caps, on taxation of employer-paid benefits, and on the 24-month own-occupation window typical of group plans. The group vs individual guide works through each. Because tax treatment turns on how the premium is funded, confirm the specifics with a tax professional.
When should a radiologist apply?
Now, for anyone past training. Underwriting looks at the record as it stands, and roughly 26% of the physician policies we placed carried an exclusion or rating in the 2026 audit. For a radiologist, the specific move is to lock the diagnostic-class characterization together with a true own-occupation definition before any vision or neurological history reaches the record.