Purchasing long-term disability insurance can provide income in the event that you fall ill, become injured, or are disabled. The additional income allows you to significant time off, or sustain yourself in the even you cannot work.
If you are unable to work for whatever reason, long-term disability will pay 50% to 70% of your income.
Most employers that offer health insurance in their employee benefits will include either a long-term or short-term disability package. Be sure to speak to your employer about including disability in their employee benefits if they haven’t included it. Long-term disability protects both employers and employees if anyone becomes debilitated by the following medical conditions:
- Anxiety
- Asthma
- Ataxia
- Back Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder
- Cancer
- Carpal Tunnel
- Cerebral Atrophy
- Chronic Fatigue
- Chronic Pain
- Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
- Crohn’s Disease
- COPD
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Degenerative Disc Disease
- Dementia
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Epilepsy
- Epstein-Barr Virus
- Eye Disorders
- Fibromyalgia
- Headaches/Migraines
- Heart Attack
- Heart Failure
- Hepatitis
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Hodgkin’s Disease
- Insomnia
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Kidney Disease
- Knee Disorders
- Leukemia
- Lung Cancer
- Lupus
- Lyme Disease
- Macular Degeneration
- Macular Edema
- Meniere’s Disease
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Neuropathy
- OCD
- Osteoarthritis
- Paralysis
- Parkinson’s
- PTSD
- Schizophrenia
- Seizure Disorders
- Sickle Cell
- Spinal Cord Disorders
- Spinal Stenosis
- Stroke
Long-term disability insurance can alleviate worries regarding your illness or disability. Check with your employer to see if your employee benefits include long-term disability. If you become injured while working, file a report with your employer and apply for workers compensation. You can use your long-term disability insurance if you become completed debilitated from the injury.
Filing For Long-Term Disability
The filing process takes 4-6 weeks to complete the necessary paperwork, interviews, and medical examinations. To get your long-term disability insurance claim approved, you must provide:
- Reasons why you’re unable to work for a substantial amount of time
- Specifications on your illness, injury, or disability
- A statement from your employer
- A statement from your healthcare providers
- Any evidence that supports your claim
- Time allotted to recover, or the “benefit period” of your disability insurance
- The time you are expected to return to work
Speak to your insurance provider and employer to get the necessary forms you need to file for long-term disability.
Denied For Long-Term Disability?
If you were denied for your long-term disability, there could have been several steps you may have missed while filing. Ask yourself:
Did I provide enough medical evidence?
Remember to use all resources such as prescriptions, recorded time-off work, doctors visits, and statements from all your healthcare professionals. Ask your insurance provider what else can be considered evidence during this process.
Does my disability fall under my insurance provider’s terms?
Each insurance provider’s policy is a little different. Read the terms of service and conditions of your contract to see if your provider will support your disability.
Did I meet the submission deadlines?
Check the deadlines for the submission process. Appealing a rejected claim normally has a 180 day period to refile or sue. Stay on top of your healthcare providers and employer when gathering statements from them.
Is there evidence disproving my claim?
Your insurance provider or employer may check video footage, or look for missed doctor’s appointments that disprove your disability. Be sure to go to all treatment sessions needed to improve your disability.
You can ask your insurance provider for a list of reasons why your claim was rejected. You can also speak to one of our partners at QuotePurple to see what else you should include in your claim.