Long Term Disability Claims and ERISA Appeals in Michigan
When illness or injury prevents you from working, long-term disability (LTD) insurance is supposed to protect you and your family. But insurers have entire teams dedicated to denying and terminating these claims, using tactics that can wear you down.
The JuneLaw Team can help you and your family receive your rightful LTD benefits.
When Insurers Deny Your LTD Claim
Long-term disability (LTD) insurance is essential when illness or injury prevents you from working by providing financial support for you and your family.
If your LTD benefits are denied or discontinued, it’s crucial to seek assistance early.
What excuses do insurers use to deny your claim?
Insurance companies use a variety of excuses to claim that you are not disabled, no longer disabled, or that you are able to continue to do the work required of you at your job despite being disabled.
Sometimes insurance companies will change how they are defining a covered disability. For example, their original definition may be that you are no longer able to do your current job. But in a year or two, they may decide it means you are no longer able to do any job, and require you to perform some other kind of work, even if that work pays a fraction of your prior income or is incompatible with your skills and training.
You may also find that the insurance company has their own crew of doctors who will say that your doctor was wrong, and you should be able to work. Their doctor might not even examine you. A file review alone may be used to override years of treatment records.
Even a long history of an insurance company paying for your disability is no protection. We have seen cases where an individual was covered for more than 10 years, but in year 11, their own doctor decides you are no longer disabled.
When a family breadwinner is deprived of long-term disability benefits, it has a wide impact. They lose their homes, their livelihoods, everything. It becomes very important to JuneLaw to fight for your rightful benefits, despite the amount of work this can take behind the scenes.
Bob June, JuneLaw
LTD and the Social Security Trap
It’s surprising how many ways insurance companies can come up with to deny long-term disability claims.
Many firms won’t do this type of case because of the amount of time it can take compared to the eventual payout. We do the work because we know how important it is to our clients.
Read more about Social Security Disability Insurance Claims
Assistance for all Types of Long-term Disability Insurance
The JuneLaw Team has experience with all types of long-term disability insurance. Whether you are covered by your work, or purchased it on your own because you are in a specialized field, we can help you get the benefits you signed up for.
Private Employer-provided LTD Claims and ERISA
Most individuals with long-term disability insurance are covered as part of a group plan with their employer. Group plans paid for by a private employer are going to be impacted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, commonly known as ERISA (see ERISA: How it Impacts Your Claim).
ERISA is a massive and complicated law that oversees how many different types of insurance plans are established and communicated to employees. Importantly, it requires that plan participants are able to appeal denied claims.
JuneLaw’s depth in ERISA provides a big advantage when it comes to appealing these types of denied claims.
Read more about how ERISA can impact a case.
Under ERISA, the administrative record locks once your appeal is closed. No new evidence can be submitted in federal court. Contact JuneLaw before filing your appeal — not after. What goes into the appeal determines what can be argued in court.
Non-private and Individual LTD Claims
Non-private group plans include those that are paid for by the government or church entities.
In addition, professionals such as doctors, dentists, lawyers, business people, and engineers often purchase individual long-term disability policies that are tailored to their specific skill. For example, if you are a surgeon, developing a small tremor will make it impossible for you to do surgery, even if there are a variety of other things you can do. These plans will typically cost more, but will also offer far greater protections in the case of a disability.
Each of these types of LTD have their own set of rules, and they may be subject to state law and procedures. Each state has unique procedures and it is important for your attorney to know what they are.
The JuneLaw Team has extensive experience dealing with these cases in the State of Michigan.
Read this actual JuneLaw case about LTD benefits denied to a doctor. It’s about a doctor who maintained his own practice, and also ran a business by hiring additional doctors. After becoming disabled, the insurance company tried to deny him his benefits as an individual simply because he also had a business. This injustice was overcome due to the doctor’s own perseverance combined with our relentless advocacy.
Read more about why long-term disability insurance in Michigan is so important for doctors and other professionals.
The JuneLaw team has extensive experience dealing with all long-term disability cases. Contact us today to be on the road to recovery.
Real-life Case Studies from JuneLaw
LTD for Doctors
