OT:LONG TERM DISABLITY

Ok , Is there anyone out there that works for HR .. or for an Insurance Company ? I filed for my long term disablity due to my illness and it is taking forever . My employer is not cooperating with them , they will not send in valuable paperwork that is needed to determine my eligibility .. and now I am waiting on Aetna to do an interview. I have left messages for my HR .. Sent Emails . Nothing .. is there anything I can do ? I am running out of time here . My docs have complied .. I have complied .. why is it taking so long . Thanks, Nat

Sorry to here of your delimia, dont have any advice never dealt w/ disability on a job. But I know disabilty in its self took me 4 years, hang in there and maybe look into a legal aid attorney to give u some advice or even any attorney who will give you a free consultaion, get the legal end of your rights. Best of luck be strong and keep them on there toes, call everyday they will soon get tires of hearing from you. Hugssss....

Nat It has been over a year (I think?) since you started this process. If I was in your situation, I think there comes a point when I would have to ask myself a couple of questions -- 1. Is getting this worth the emotional stress? I'm not going to let them win. 2. Do I really need the money? 3. Is it just the principle of the thing -- I believe I am entitled to this and I'm not going to let them cheat me? When you answer these for yourself you will know what to do -- one of two things -- either it is time to let it go (it's not worth what it is doing to me) OR It's time to get a lawyer who specializes in disability cases. Most lawyers will give you a free 1-2 hour consult to determine if they believe you have a case. You also need to know that if you persue this into court -- you will have to steel yourself for what they will publically say about you. When a company does not want to pay a claim, they will go to great lengths to make the information they have about you appear as negative as possible. They may also call as witnesses against you, people you thought were your friends or at least positive toward your situation. I went through something similar a few years ago with an EEO suit I filed. It was a rude awakening to say the least. In the end I did win a substantial settlement, but I lost a friend (I thought she was my friend) and was blackballed in the office. It took me 4 years to get a promotion after that. my thoughts, CathyA

Natalie, sorry I don't have any advice just wanted to say that I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers that this is settled very soon. ((((hugs)))) Anna

Nat, my mom also had a problem when she went on long term disability. She ended up just mentioneing the word "Lawyer" and they got on the ball. You have to fight for it. I have 6 lawyers now, maybe I'll call one up tommorrow and ask for advice about you situation. It can't hurt and I'm paying them anyway.

Hey Nat! Hope you are doing well aside from this disability struggle. I work in HR and do absence administration so I do a lot with disability, mostly short term. First of all, if the employer is not cooperating, I believe the disability insurance company is required to make their decision without the employer's input. I get emails all the time from our disability agents and if I don't reply within 3 days, they will not consider my input. They will make the decision based on the information that they have. I'm not sure when you first applied for long term disability but it can definitely take some time to process...way longer than short term disability. For us, under the best cir****tances, short term disability can be approved in as short as a week. Long term disability, under the best cir****tances can take weeks or months. If I were you I would also put in a claim for Federal Disability as well. That can take even longer than long term disability. Part of the problem with long term disability is that they need to determine if there is ANY type of work that you can do. For example, when I got sick about 10 years ago, I was teaching high school special education in the Bronx. All of my kids were emotionally & behaviorally disordered. There was no way that I could plan to go in and sit down and not move from my desk. I was in a wheelchair and was having muscle spasms 24/7 in my entire body even with percocet and valium together. I had to appeal 2 times because they said that, first, teaching is a sedentary job, meaning that I could just go in and sit at my desk. Yeah right! I just wanted to drag them to the school for an hour so they could see. Anyway, then they said that they were sure that given my education and experience, there was SOME work that I could do in my condition. It wasn't until, believe it or not, I was back to work and cried in front of a judge that I got the back pay. In hindsight, if I was more physically able, I would have been clearer about the level of pain, etc. Another potential problem that I see, which, I am not sure if this applies in your situation, is that you physically moved away from your job. My people are not even allowed to travel out of state without permission when they are on disability...they are required to notify the disability insurance company and they review the records and determine whether or not the person is well enough to travel. If I were in charge of your case, as the employer (now please remember that the employer gets none of your medical information so we go strictly on appearance). I would be (and please don't take this wrong I don't know the cir****tances and rules in your situation, I'm just telling you how I would handle it) I would be having your move investigated. First of all, from the employer's standpoint, if you are too sick to work, you should be too sick to move that far. Second, if you got better tomorrow, how "convenient" would it be for you to return to work if you don't even live within a commutable distance. I would assume that you want to move and just want your pay supplemented in the meantime. If I were you, I probably would have held my move until after my disability had started to be paid. If there is any type of investigation involved, a case can be delayed depending on how long it takes to get the information needed (whether confirming or denying their suspicions). More and more employers and insurance companies are cracking down because of the number of people who abuse the system. Unfortunately, it is usually the people who are honest who end up screwed simply because they don't know how to play the game. The true game players often know all of the loopholes in the system and manage to escape the runaround. I watch people all the time who I know are faking get approved while people who I know are honestly ill fight and give up. Hope that helped even a little. Let me know if there is anything else that I can help you with. Sorry that was so long... Take Care! Christine

Christine, Thanks so much for the insight . When this all began, and I got accepted into the Protocol, one of the things the doctors at NIH suggested was to continue the disease study at John Hopkins . And in them saying that I am now under the care of the Endo team at JH. With out the ablity to drive and no one to take care of me , being here was the only thing I could do . After posting this yesterday, I spoke to Aetna and they are only waiting on the employeers to verify my income so they can pay me . And that is what is holding all of this up . The interview they do is standard proceedure for all claimants . I just got a hold of someone that had no clue what she was talking about ... What is frustrating is I have all my documentation, all reports from my docs .. and a founded disablity . The sad part is , it could take me a year or more to get regulated on my meds, and for my muscles to start accepting the dosage . The pain is agonizing at times, not to mention all the other side effects . I just want it all to be over .. and I doubt if it was denied , I would fight it .. Alan wants me too , but I honestly do not think I would have the strenght . Will see. Thanks again for your help. Nat