Disability Denial - Page 5

When you claim a long term disability, chances are good that you’re doing so under the advice of your doctor, who has probably already told you that you have a disability and may have even filled out paperwork for you to this effect. Basically, you’re acting on the professional advice of a medical expert.

Logic would follow that the opinion of such a person would have to be taken into account. After all, that’s how it works if you’re filing a disability claim with Social Security. They are required to treat your doctor’s findings with respect, and if they are to argue against them, they have to come up with enough evidence to the contrary with their own experts to call your disability into dispute.

You’ve been trying to follow the disability laws and work with your insurance company to get disability, but they are making things difficult. No surprise there. After all, they may “work for you,” but in reality their job is to limit payouts as much as possible.

It may have gotten to the point that you finally had to say no to all of the hoops that they were having you jump through. And you were feeling pretty good about taking a stand, until you got a letter from them saying that you were “non-compliant” and that they’re refusing your claim. Can they do this? Unfortunately, the answer is yes, but there are ways around it.

If an insurance company denies your claim for long term disability benefits, you can appeal the decision. This is your right, and the insurer must allow you recourse to a full and fair review of a denied claim. This is true whether you have a private disability policy or an employer provided ERISA governed policy.

What is an Appeal? The appeal is a formal request for a re-consideration of an unfavorable decision made by the insurer, such as a denial, reduction, or termination of benefits.

The process involved in a long term disability appeal depends upon the type of LTD policy your claim is under:

If you are currently filing a claim with CIGNA or have had issues with them in the past relating to your long term disability , you may be wondering how the recent multi-state settlement affects you and your claim.

CIGNAs recent large scale settlement involved California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts wherein $77 Million dollars has been set aside for those whose claims were improperly handled. CIGNA has also agreed to pay penalties to the numerous states involved in the multi-state settlement which will amount to $ 1.6 million dollars.

When a veteran applies for disability-related veterans benefits, there is a Code of Federal Regulations that lays out some of the basic guidelines. These guidelines are used to determine whether or not the injuries or diseases that are shown on a veteran’s service records should be considered service-connected. Each disabling condition for which a veteran is seeking compensation must be considered based on a few different criteria.

These criteria are:

Being denied veterans benefits by the Regional Office can feel like the end of the world, but it doesn’t have to be. If you have served your country and feel you have been wrongfully denied the benefits that you deserve, you have the option of filing a formal appeal. The process can be lengthy, and the Board of Veterans Appeals may take up to two and a half years to reach a final decision. If you feel overwhelmed, consider working with a disability lawyer who can help you through the process and maximize your chance of winning the veterans benefits you deserve.