Sometimes you have to hand it to insurance carriers: Their creativity and audacity would be admirable—if it was used for good. We imagined the scene in Reliance Standard Life's legal department was somewhat like the show ER, but for insurance denials instead of...
ERISA
Is the risk of relapse alone considered a disability?
Though the case detailed below is specific to the first year of the COVID pandemic, and the uncertain, existential threat that accompanied it, the case highlights a lesser known but crucial existing legal precedent that applies in certain circumstances. Can...
Be skeptical of doctors working for insurance providers
On a list of occupations ranked by difficulty and stress, doctors would appear near the top, along with astronauts, firefighters and, the mother of them all, junior high school teachers. Similarly, the nature of ranked lists means that for every outstanding doctor,...
A denial that ‘borders on the absurd’ – Why appeals matter
We have previously discussed the importance of appealing when insurance providers deny long-term disability benefits. People feeling like they’re not equipped to handle a lengthy court battle while they’re sick or injured aside, there’s a persistent myth that...
Disability claims for long COVID are still problematic
While the medical community works to uncover the intricacies and unknowns of long COVID, long-term disability applicants are still struggling to receive benefits for this condition. The pre-existing condition tactic fails again Insurance providers, huge fans of...
An addendum to Michael Cloud v. NFL Player Retirement Plan
Regular readers of this blog will know that we have paid close attention to the rollercoaster case involving former NFL running back Michael Cloud and his quest to attain the highest level of disability benefits from the NFL Player Retirement Plan. While we wish we...
Bill introduced for mental health disability parity in Minnesota
Back in January of this year, we found ourselves in the awkward but not unpleasant position of praising Sun Life after they encouraged Congress to pass legislation requiring mental health and substance abuse parity among long-term disability insurance plans. Sun...
The Catch-22 denial of benefits trick fails again
Never underestimate the willingness of insurance companies to “try again” to deny benefits for reasons which have already been considered and rejected by the Courts. We highlighted a case in July 2023 wherein a dental hygienist continued working through her chronic...
Despite the easy win, this ERISA case has important lessons
Ideally, you should get through life without having to think about long-term disability and the often arduous ERISA application process. Worst case scenario, you should only have to deal with this once. So, unless you’re an avid reader of this blog, it’s...
Sun Life supports adding mental health parity to disability insurance
Here in the muddy trenches of ERISA law, we usually find ourselves condemning insurance providers for unfair benefit denials and disingenuous tactics designed to please shareholders at the expense of their customers' wellbeing. Today is not one of those days. Everyone...