Re: Long-term Disability Insurance......Soon? and Happy New Year

[Guest guest]

Dawn -

Hey, if that's the case then the person who said it would be subtracted must have been mistaken since I would assume that the rules are fairly standard acorss the board. Hopefully, I won't have to deal with that situation for at least several years as I just want to get this body back to work. I don't care if I can only work for a couple of moe years. I guess I'm just not emotionally ready to give up the idea of not working. Even just not being there the past few months has made me stark raving cuckoo.

So the thing that they're fighting you on....Is that the workman's comp claim or the LTD insurance claim? Given your situation, it makes no sense that they would fight you this way. You'd think that on the MS alone that you'd be able to get it.

After hearing what you've gone through, I plan to log every phone call and keep every scrap of paper that they send me. I will also be sure to send everything return receipt requested so that I have proof of went I sent things and tha they've received what I sent. A little paranoid maybe but I'd rather be paranoid than broke. Perhpas that will be my New Year's resolution.

I hope that the upcoming year is a good one for you and everyone here and that each day is kind to us. Barbaradawn lorenz wrote:

Barbara,

I would get 60% of my salary until I was 65 and I would also get the $950.00 instead of the 1500.00 from SSDI a month. This has already been sent to me from SSDI in a letter. So I would be receiving about $828.00 a week which is about $50.00 less than I normally took home when I was working. That I could live on and get my bills caught up, because now only taking home 60% of what I made and that is extremely hard to live on. You are very lucky if your doctors stated you should have been on disability a long time ago, because that should make it easier to get your LTD! I know with me that they are driving me crazy and are trying to find ways not to have to pay me. I think they realized how tough I am, when I threatened them with an attorney and asked my doctors to send me updated information on my medical conditions so when the claims adjuster tells me why I am not getting it, I can see what info she has and make sure it is! the

most recent. The last time she wanted to deny my claim, she had information from my orthapedic that was almost two years old and I knew it and got the updated and really embarresed the claims adjuster!!!! She then told me that I was never told I was denied and that my case was still open and I did not need to get my own information. I told her it was either that or an attorney so take your pick! I have not heard from her (other than receiving a letter that stated my claim was still open) since the end of October. I should call her soon and see what is going on now. Well now you know how hard it is and that is why I said what I did before, because as nice as they might sound they sometimes look at older information so that they can deny your claim! Caught them red handed doing that and will not allow them to do it again! If for some reason I get denied again, I will ask for the dates of all the last information that they have received! Take Care and I really hope that everyt!

hing will work out for you. Please keep me informed and let me know if you get that first check! I hope that you do! LOL and Best Wishes Always!!!

Dawn

BARBARA TORREY wrote:

Dawn -

The LTD policy that I have is lifetime and gives me 60% of my salary until retirement age. My employer pays fully for the policy as a benefit for all of its employees. You should know, as Helen stated, that if you switch over to just the LTD policy and then later receive SSI or SSDI, the SSI/SSDI amount is subtracted from the LTD amount. Would your LTD policy actully pay you your full income or just a percentage of it? I've never heard of one that pays the same as your full salary and if that is what you have then you sure are blessed. You might want to be sure to check into it before you start messing around with stuff.

I won't have to deal with an IME with the LTD policy. My LTD policy relies on my physician's statements. Had to laugh, though, as my GP said I would have qualified for disability years ago. dawn lorenz wrote:

Barbara,

As far as LTD goes with me, I do receive Workers Compensation, but also receive a $100.00 monthly benefit to cover my health benefits which is $73.40 a month. I paid extra into LTD so that if something like this ever happened to me I can also get Disability payments not on a temporary basis, but until I am 65 years of age! When my WC stops then I will fight to get my LTD to cover my salary along with SSDI! This way I will get my full salary and will not lose anything I hope and pray. I will receive a little over $1500.00 a month on SSDI if I do not receive WC and will receive $950.00 a month if I am still getting WC. If I receive the LTD with the SSDI then I will practically be making a full salary again which is what I really am hoping for so then I might be able to purchase this house and be able to pay for it!!!! I will also be able to get caught up on past debts. I go and see an IME in Albany on January 5th, so I! ! am

hoping that my LTD is taken care of. They have to decide if you really cannot work and are disabled. They go through a harder criteria than SSDI. I was told this by my attorney and my Disability carrier. I hope that I do not have a problem with them, because I have already caught them in lies like I was telling you earlier! It is insane what they make us go through and I am also starting to get nervous, because of all the waiting and not knowing what is going to happen to me tomorrow. I need to call my attorney either tomorrow or Monday and tell them about the possible surgery. This should definitely get SSDI off there butt's and they should start to see things in my favor since I can barely walk and cannot pickup a thing!!! I also think I am in an MS flare because the pain is unbearable! Well please tell me what type of LTD do you have? Is it temporary that covers you for two years or is lifetime and you paid extra into it? I think this is why we are both a little confused! ! !

Well I hope I explained my end correctly to you and hope that all goes well for you! I am sure that it will. Take Care and Best Wishes Always and Forever!!! Glad to see at least one sister is not being selfish and is helping you! I do not understand the other sister, but she does sound like mine a little bit! My sister would never help me no matter what that I can say going to my grave! She is extremely selfish when it comes to money and even though her husband is the one that makes it, you would think it is all hers!!!!! Well another chapter to the novel is done, so take care and LOL Always!

DawnBARBARA TORREY wrote:

I'm curious, Dawn. Are you trying to settle a workman's comp claim or is your situation through Long Term Disability Insurance. My application is for Long Term Disability Insurance, not for workman's comp, SSDI, or SSI. You've got me a little nervous here. I always thought that with LTD (the kind of disability insurance that an employer carries as a benefit for its emloyees) a person was automatically qualified as long as the paperwork was complete and the documentation from doctors etc. supportied the disability and was all set.

Gees, I can't even imagine what I would do if this all gets dragged out. I'm down to $28.... and even the copay for a doctor's appt is $25 much less the copays for prescriptions. One of sister's has offered (and I obviously agreed) to help cover me until I get a check. Thank God for her. Curiously, my other sister (who is on far more solid financial ground) hasn't even brought up what I must be going through money-wise much less offered to help out. The way I figure it, I should hopefully have a check in hand by the beginning of February. Although it will be a serious dent in my budget, I will be getting 60% of my ordinary salary. With that amount I can at least get by until I get back to work. The policy also permits me to earn up to the other 40% so that I will be able to work part-time until the docs say I'm ready to do the full time thing. Also, my employer is fine about my working part-ti! ! me

and will hold my job with the understanding that I wil be full-time by the six month's point (April 12th). Keep your fingers crossed. I'm a bit scared here. Barbaradawn lorenz wrote:

I second that motion Barbara! It is very hard not having a second income and I do not know how people like Ginny do it, being single with children also to support! I would have been in the streets right now if it was not for my Mom! God bless her and my Dad for all that they have done for me in the past and present!!! I know that things will work out for you. I am in the middle of the same thing with LTD. I was suppose to have my case settled in October, but they messed everything up by me catching my case worker in a lie. You just reminded me that I have to call the wicked witch today! I cannot help it but to call her that after catching her in a lie and then trying to deny what she said until I told her that I had documents in my home. She was so shocked that all she could say to me was that I did not have to go and get the documents! Well I did and darn glad that I did, but now my entire case is being reevaluated and I ! ! ! had

to threaten them with another lawyer. I already have two and really do not want a third. Well I wish you all the best and know that your outcome will be a good one. Take Care and try and have a good day! Wishes for less pain and a happy day! LOL Always!

Dawn

BARBARA TORREY wrote:

Everyone -

Well I finally heard from work today that some examiner from th einsurance company will be calling me either today or Monday to set up an appointment for an interview. It's about time ! I haven't had a paycheck in a month and the disability coverage is supposed to kick in on January 12th. Well, this kid is rapidly hitting the broke point. Sure gonna be tough to explain to the cat why she doesn't have any food.

I'm getting pretty nervous here. The way my LTD coverage is set up, I'm not eligible until I have been out of work for 90 days. The 90 days arrives on the 12th of January but I assume I won't get a check on that day. Does anyone here have any experience with this?.... Like how long did it take for youto get your first check? I guess they don't think about the fact that you can't pay the copays for dr. appointments or meds when you don't have any money coming in. Hmmmm....prostitution anyone? Nah, that wouldn't work either. Bear with me. Just getting a little nuts here. I'm dying to go back to work, docs on't let me, and we haven't gotten the meds sorted out yet. Even when the meds are set up the docs say I will only be able to start out as "very part-time." Eeeeeek. I need a husband or something. Sure is tough doing this without a person in the house with a second income. & am!

p;am! p;nb! sp; Barbara

[Guest guest]

Barb,

It is so funny that you talk about return receipt, because that is what my first SSDI appeal is about. They say my papers were not filed in a timely fashion and my attorney sent the papers in December of last year and they are saying that they did not get them until March!!! On the appeal process my attorney sent everything in with a return receipt and wrote to them that she never had to do this before and she had been doing SSDI appeals for 20 years now! She believes that I should have no problem getting it and does not understand why they keep refusing me!!!! Even when I went to SSDI for an interview, the gentleman there said I should definitely be getting it and he said it in front of my Mom and I!!!! I really think it would be easier to be broke and get welfare and foodstamps at this point!!! I am so sick of being treated like a leper, when I worked my butt off for 22 years!!! I really mean worked two. I had no cushy office

job, I was on my feet every day for 10 to 12 hours!!! I never had any time for myself and that is one reason my engagement never worked because I was never off and my job called me at home on my days off! They were always afraid to bother anyone else so each time there was a problem I was the one that always got called. Did my company a favor and worked in PA for over three months and did such a good job that they asked me to stay on a couple extra weeks! I always did my best and now I am getting treated like trash. I will fight them all the way Barb, and I hope they realize that, because I am not doing what they want us all to do and that is give up!!!!!!! Well you just reminded me to go and make some phone calls this morning to my attornies and now that I am on a role and all drugged up, I think I will do it!!! Take Care and a Happy, Happy New Year and LOL Always!!!!

DawnBARBARA TORREY wrote:

Dawn -

Hey, if that's the case then the person who said it would be subtracted must have been mistaken since I would assume that the rules are fairly standard acorss the board. Hopefully, I won't have to deal with that situation for at least several years as I just want to get this body back to work. I don't care if I can only work for a couple of moe years. I guess I'm just not emotionally ready to give up the idea of not working. Even just not being there the past few months has made me stark raving cuckoo.

So the thing that they're fighting you on....Is that the workman's comp claim or the LTD insurance claim? Given your situation, it makes no sense that they would fight you this way. You'd think that on the MS alone that you'd be able to get it.

After hearing what you've gone through, I plan to log every phone call and keep every scrap of paper that they send me. I will also be sure to send everything return receipt requested so that I have proof of went I sent things and tha they've received what I sent. A little paranoid maybe but I'd rather be paranoid than broke. Perhpas that will be my New Year's resolution.

I hope that the upcoming year is a good one for you and everyone here and that each day is kind to us. Barbaradawn lorenz wrote:

Barbara,

I would get 60% of my salary until I was 65 and I would also get the $950.00 instead of the 1500.00 from SSDI a month. This has already been sent to me from SSDI in a letter. So I would be receiving about $828.00 a week which is about $50.00 less than I normally took home when I was working. That I could live on and get my bills caught up, because now only taking home 60% of what I made and that is extremely hard to live on. You are very lucky if your doctors stated you should have been on disability a long time ago, because that should make it easier to get your LTD! I know with me that they are driving me crazy and are trying to find ways not to have to pay me. I think they realized how tough I am, when I threatened them with an attorney and asked my doctors to send me updated information on my medical conditions so when the claims adjuster tells me why I am not getting it, I can see what info she has and make sure it is! the

most recent. The last time she wanted to deny my claim, she had information from my orthapedic that was almost two years old and I knew it and got the updated and really embarresed the claims adjuster!!!! She then told me that I was never told I was denied and that my case was still open and I did not need to get my own information. I told her it was either that or an attorney so take your pick! I have not heard from her (other than receiving a letter that stated my claim was still open) since the end of October. I should call her soon and see what is going on now. Well now you know how hard it is and that is why I said what I did before, because as nice as they might sound they sometimes look at older information so that they can deny your claim! Caught them red handed doing that and will not allow them to do it again! If for some reason I get denied again, I will ask for the dates of all the last information that they have received! Take Care and I really hope that everyt!

hing will work out for you. Please keep me informed and let me know if you get that first check! I hope that you do! LOL and Best Wishes Always!!!

Dawn

BARBARA TORREY wrote:

Dawn -

The LTD policy that I have is lifetime and gives me 60% of my salary until retirement age. My employer pays fully for the policy as a benefit for all of its employees. You should know, as Helen stated, that if you switch over to just the LTD policy and then later receive SSI or SSDI, the SSI/SSDI amount is subtracted from the LTD amount. Would your LTD policy actully pay you your full income or just a percentage of it? I've never heard of one that pays the same as your full salary and if that is what you have then you sure are blessed. You might want to be sure to check into it before you start messing around with stuff.

I won't have to deal with an IME with the LTD policy. My LTD policy relies on my physician's statements. Had to laugh, though, as my GP said I would have qualified for disability years ago. dawn lorenz wrote:

Barbara,

As far as LTD goes with me, I do receive Workers Compensation, but also receive a $100.00 monthly benefit to cover my health benefits which is $73.40 a month. I paid extra into LTD so that if something like this ever happened to me I can also get Disability payments not on a temporary basis, but until I am 65 years of age! When my WC stops then I will fight to get my LTD to cover my salary along with SSDI! This way I will get my full salary and will not lose anything I hope and pray. I will receive a little over $1500.00 a month on SSDI if I do not receive WC and will receive $950.00 a month if I am still getting WC. If I receive the LTD with the SSDI then I will practically be making a full salary again which is what I really am hoping for so then I might be able to purchase this house and be able to pay for it!!!! I will also be able to get caught up on past debts. I go and see an IME in Albany on January 5th, so I! ! am

hoping that my LTD is taken care of. They have to decide if you really cannot work and are disabled. They go through a harder criteria than SSDI. I was told this by my attorney and my Disability carrier. I hope that I do not have a problem with them, because I have already caught them in lies like I was telling you earlier! It is insane what they make us go through and I am also starting to get nervous, because of all the waiting and not knowing what is going to happen to me tomorrow. I need to call my attorney either tomorrow or Monday and tell them about the possible surgery. This should definitely get SSDI off there butt's and they should start to see things in my favor since I can barely walk and cannot pickup a thing!!! I also think I am in an MS flare because the pain is unbearable! Well please tell me what type of LTD do you have? Is it temporary that covers you for two years or is lifetime and you paid extra into it? I think this is why we are both a little confused! ! !

Well I hope I explained my end correctly to you and hope that all goes well for you! I am sure that it will. Take Care and Best Wishes Always and Forever!!! Glad to see at least one sister is not being selfish and is helping you! I do not understand the other sister, but she does sound like mine a little bit! My sister would never help me no matter what that I can say going to my grave! She is extremely selfish when it comes to money and even though her husband is the one that makes it, you would think it is all hers!!!!! Well another chapter to the novel is done, so take care and LOL Always!

DawnBARBARA TORREY wrote:

I'm curious, Dawn. Are you trying to settle a workman's comp claim or is your situation through Long Term Disability Insurance. My application is for Long Term Disability Insurance, not for workman's comp, SSDI, or SSI. You've got me a little nervous here. I always thought that with LTD (the kind of disability insurance that an employer carries as a benefit for its emloyees) a person was automatically qualified as long as the paperwork was complete and the documentation from doctors etc. supportied the disability and was all set.

Gees, I can't even imagine what I would do if this all gets dragged out. I'm down to $28.... and even the copay for a doctor's appt is $25 much less the copays for prescriptions. One of sister's has offered (and I obviously agreed) to help cover me until I get a check. Thank God for her. Curiously, my other sister (who is on far more solid financial ground) hasn't even brought up what I must be going through money-wise much less offered to help out. The way I figure it, I should hopefully have a check in hand by the beginning of February. Although it will be a serious dent in my budget, I will be getting 60% of my ordinary salary. With that amount I can at least get by until I get back to work. The policy also permits me to earn up to the other 40% so that I will be able to work part-time until the docs say I'm ready to do the full time thing. Also, my employer is fine about my working part-ti! ! me

and will hold my job with the understanding that I wil be full-time by the six month's point (April 12th). Keep your fingers crossed. I'm a bit scared here. Barbaradawn lorenz wrote:

I second that motion Barbara! It is very hard not having a second income and I do not know how people like Ginny do it, being single with children also to support! I would have been in the streets right now if it was not for my Mom! God bless her and my Dad for all that they have done for me in the past and present!!! I know that things will work out for you. I am in the middle of the same thing with LTD. I was suppose to have my case settled in October, but they messed everything up by me catching my case worker in a lie. You just reminded me that I have to call the wicked witch today! I cannot help it but to call her that after catching her in a lie and then trying to deny what she said until I told her that I had documents in my home. She was so shocked that all she could say to me was that I did not have to go and get the documents! Well I did and darn glad that I did, but now my entire case is being reevaluated and I ! ! ! had

to threaten them with another lawyer. I already have two and really do not want a third. Well I wish you all the best and know that your outcome will be a good one. Take Care and try and have a good day! Wishes for less pain and a happy day! LOL Always!

Dawn

BARBARA TORREY wrote:

Everyone -

Well I finally heard from work today that some examiner from th einsurance company will be calling me either today or Monday to set up an appointment for an interview. It's about time ! I haven't had a paycheck in a month and the disability coverage is supposed to kick in on January 12th. Well, this kid is rapidly hitting the broke point. Sure gonna be tough to explain to the cat why she doesn't have any food.

I'm getting pretty nervous here. The way my LTD coverage is set up, I'm not eligible until I have been out of work for 90 days. The 90 days arrives on the 12th of January but I assume I won't get a check on that day. Does anyone here have any experience with this?.... Like how long did it take for youto get your first check? I guess they don't think about the fact that you can't pay the copays for dr. appointments or meds when you don't have any money coming in. Hmmmm....prostitution anyone? Nah, that wouldn't work either. Bear with me. Just getting a little nuts here. I'm dying to go back to work, docs on't let me, and we haven't gotten the meds sorted out yet. Even when the meds are set up the docs say I will only be able to start out as "very part-time." Eeeeeek. I need a husband or something. Sure is tough doing this without a person in the house with a second income. & am!

p;am! p;nb! sp; Barbara