A Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School resident takes a six-month parental leave during the third year of training. The Guardian Provider Choice GSI policy could lapse if premium payments stop during that period. The Suspension for Family Medical Leave Endorsement pauses the premium obligation while the resident is on qualifying family leave, holding the policy in force without requiring the resident to pay during a period of substantially reduced income.
Form ICC23 FLPC attaches to Rutgers GSI disability insurance for medical residents as a no-charge endorsement. The provision suspends the premium obligation during qualifying family medical leave, with the policy remaining in force throughout the suspension period.
The endorsement matters in New Jersey because the state’s paid family leave statute is among the more generous in the country. New Jersey Family Leave Insurance pays partial wage replacement for up to 12 weeks of bonding leave, and Rutgers residents who take parental leave often combine state-mandated paid leave with additional unpaid time off.
For Rutgers residents enrolled in guaranteed standard issue disability insurance programs, the endorsement attaches automatically. There is no separate election at issuance and no underwriting consideration for the resident’s family planning intentions.
The structural value emerges when the resident’s family decisions intersect with the policy’s premium obligation during training years.
The companion piece in this cluster examines how the Pre-existing Condition Limitation expires for Rutgers residents at year two of policy ownership.
The endorsement operates alongside that contestability clock without affecting it.
Bob Herum, president of the Council for Disability Income Awareness, framed the long-running pattern by which residents do not address their disability coverage decisions on the Income Protection Journal Podcast.
“Their lack of planning becomes their plan.”
Bob Herum, president of the Council for Disability Income Awareness, on the Income Protection Journal Podcast
Herum’s framing applies in particular to family leave and premium obligations. A Rutgers resident who takes parental leave without considering the disability policy’s premium obligation defaults to letting the policy lapse during the leave window. The FLPC endorsement makes that lapse unnecessary, but only if the resident knows the endorsement exists and triggers it through documented family leave.
“We will suspend the premium obligation under this Policy and any Rider for any month in which You are on Family Medical Leave from Your Occupation, subject to documentation requirements and a Maximum Suspension Period shown in the Schedule Page.”
Suspension for Family Medical Leave Endorsement, Form ICC23 FLPC, attached to Guardian Provider Choice Individual Disability Income Insurance, Policy Form ICC16 18ID, Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America (specimen contract)
The endorsement’s documentation requirement is structural. The carrier requires the resident to submit documentation of qualifying family leave from the employer’s human resources office. Rutgers GME administrators maintain that documentation as a standard practice.
Inside the FLPC Endorsement at Rutgers
The endorsement requires that the policy have been in force for at least one year before the family leave begins. Rutgers residents who enroll in GSI during PGY-1 and take family leave during PGY-2 or later satisfy this threshold.
The Maximum Suspension Period shown on the Schedule Page caps the total duration of premium suspension across the life of the policy. Resident family leave during one episode counts against the lifetime cap, leaving the remainder available for subsequent qualifying leave events.
Premium suspension does not affect any other policy term. The benefit amount, benefit period, elimination period, and rider attachments all remain unchanged during the suspension. The endorsement only addresses the premium obligation.
New Jersey Paid Family Leave and the Endorsement
New Jersey runs one of the most extensive paid family leave programs in the United States, paying up to 12 weeks of partial wage replacement for bonding leave or family care. Rutgers residents who use New Jersey Family Leave Insurance also typically qualify under the endorsement’s family medical leave definition.
The state statute and the policy endorsement operate independently. Rutgers residents receive partial wage replacement from the state during leave and separately suspend their disability policy premium obligation through the endorsement. The two structures address different financial pressures during family leave.
The Guardian Provider Choice GSI policy issued through Rutgers carries the FLPC endorsement as a baseline feature. Residents who take family leave during training can document the leave to GME administration and trigger the premium suspension without separately negotiating with the carrier.