Doctors have more problems with disability income insurance claims than most other occupations, because:
* They never read their disability policy until they have to make a claim. * Policy benefits are usually higher because they make more money.
* They are too busy to change coverage when their situation changes.
* Their duties as physicians are more likely to change because of specialization or increase in skills.
* The terms of their policy are so complex that they don't truly understand them.
This medical profession problem was succinctly pointed out by T Keith Mangrum of Medical Group Insurance Services, Inc., click here, when she pointed out 10 things a doctor doesn't want to hear when making a claim, in an article in MD Preferred,click here, an online publication for physicians. While the article dealt well with the front end of the MD disability claims process, it did not deal with the back end, i.e., what does a doctor do when faced with a denial of a legitimate disability benefits claim?
As we have said many times before, disability insurance companies have a litany of "reasons" why they should not pay benefits. Some of these reasons have a foundation in law and some do not. Since the policy is the contract which governs the insurance relationship, it is the law of the claim and dictates the rights of the doctor to receive benefits and the insurance company to refuse to pay.
So, the first thing every doctor should do is READ THE DISABILITY INCOME POLICY NOW!!! Doctors, of all people, are aware that illness or injury can strike without warning, at any time of the day or night. No one is immune to catastrophe. After reading the policy, if the full meaning isn't clear, get someone who knows, like a knowledgeable lawyer, to help you understand.
Once disaster strikes, the doctor is stuck with the terms of the policy and can't change them. If the policy doesn't afford enough coverage there's nothing to be done about it. Reading and understanding the policy before the doctor has to make a claim should help take care of the front end. What about the back end - if there is a denial?
As we have pointed out here so many times, insurance companies are adept and motivated to throw roadblocks in the path of benefits seekers even when their reasons for denying a claim sometimes border on the ridiculous. Insurers do so because they know a certain percentage of claimants will give up and allow the insurer to drop what they should have paid in benefits to the company's bottom line.
The stakes in a physician's disability income insurance policy are usually high and give the insurance company more reason to contest the claim. Before a doctor gives up on such a claim it must be absolutely clear that the claim denial is legitimate .
This goes double when the claim is covered by a group policy, purchased by an employer, of which the physician has no firsthand knowledge. To have the policy explained to the doctor by a Human Resources manager who works for the employer and who has no legal understanding of arcane ERISA insurance law and the sometimes questionable tactics of insurance companies, may not be the best thing for the policyholder. So, what is the best thing?
First, read and completely understand the disability income policy. Does the protection it affords them and their family do the job? If not, they should make the desired changes before disaster strikes. And, if they ever should be so unfortunate as to have to make a claim for disability benefits, they definitely should not take an insurer's claim denial as gospel. It is in insurance company genes to almost automatically reply to a claim with a denial, hoping the claimant will "wimp" out and go away.
Doctors know medicine, but they are not experts in insurance law and claims. Don't stand alone. Get a veteran, knowledgeable disability claims lawyer to review your situation and give you an opinion on the validity of the denial.
Only then can the doctor make an intelligent diagnosis of a disability income benefits claim.
