Have You Heard of ERISA? It’s important to have familiarity with the Employment Retirement Security Act (ERISA) if you receive employee benefits through your employer. Established in 1974, ERISA sets minimum standards for private industry to protect individuals in employee benefit plans, including pension and welfare benefit plans. Welfare benefit plans may include benefits in …
In My Chronic Illness, I Found A Deeper Meaning This is an interesting article about one man who was used to living his life as an outsider. But then he was diagnosed with central nervous system lupus, and found that nothing had prepared him for “…the outsider status of being chronically ill“. He learns along …
Mental Health, Bipolar 1 & Long Term Disability Denials In our experience, when Long Term Disability (LTD) insurance companies evaluate mental health cases, such as Bipolar 1, they typically attempt to redefine the illness and ignore their own definition of disability under the disability insurance policy. Nearly all long-term disability (LTD) policies cover mental health …
Mental Health, Bipolar 1 & Long Term Disability Denials Read More »
Fibromyalgia Claims Fibromyalgia is a disease that does not offer any objective evidence or test results. It has been difficult to “prove” for long-term disability claims in the past. In 2017 there were two strong decisions which overturned long-term disability benefit denials. Disabled claimants were entitled to long-term disability benefits for fibromyalgia. The 2017 rulings represent important …
Important Shifts in Fibromyalgia Proof for LTD cases 2017 Read More »
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus has been called The Great Pretender in certain medical circles. Here is some information on one of our most commonly represented illnesses. The Great Pretender Many people who suffer from Lupus go through long periods of misdiagnosis. Lupus can pretend to be many other illnesses, so depending on the symptoms, it is …
What is ERISA In 1974 Gerald Ford signed the employee retirement income security act (ERISA) into law in the rose garden on labor day. It was truly a momentous occasion. If you’re old enough to remember what was happening in the economy back in the 70’s, you might remember that we had a lot of …
ERISA Explained (The Employee Retirement Income Security Act) Read More »
How can I be disabled but still be denied my insurance disability benefits? This is really a good question and the person asking the question is typically the disabled person. You have a lot of scenarios where the individual literally, genuinely, feels like they’re not going to be able to work. If you wanted a …
How Can I Be Disabled Yet Still Denied My Disability Insurance Benefits? Read More »
Own Occupation & Any Occupation In Long Term Disability Insurance The Misunderstood ‘own occupation’ & ‘any occupation’ definitions in Long Term Disability Insurance policies. Own occupation is typically defined in most insurance contracts as your job as it appears in the national economy. So if your particular job has a feature in it that most …
The difference between ‘Any Occupation’ and ‘Own Occupation’ Read More »
What is the difference between social security and long term disability? Long term disability is an insurance benefit typically provided by your employer as an employee benefit. The LTD plan document will lay out all the terms and conditions you must meet to receive disability insurance if you become disabled. Long Term Disability Insurance will …
What is the difference between Social Security (SS) and Long Term Disability (LTD) Read More »
If the insurance company sends you a denial, you have the legal right to an appeal in a long term disability case. The denial letter is really important because that denial letter is going to tell you that you have an ability to appeal. And the ability to appeal is not something that the insurance …
Do Not Appeal Your Long Term Disability Insurance Denial Without An ERISA Attorney Read More »
