Quiat on Claims : New York Disability Insurance Lawyer & Attorney : Michael Quiat : Uscher Quiat Uscher & Russo Law Firm : ERISA, Denied Claims

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.

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Although doctors and lawyers handling an injury claim for a client-patient should always cooperate, disability income insurance claimants have a most pressing need for ongoing and speedy communication among their medical experts and attorneys. Disability income claims require medical reports that meet special standards and must be filed within strict time limits.

In view of these constraints, it is amazing how many doctors and lawyers can’t seem to get along.

It’s common knowledge that lawyers and doctors, as a class, generally don’t like each other. Each profession has had some bad experiences in dealing with the other, particularly in the area of medical malpractice lawsuits, but that’s no reason to shortchange a claimant-patient, locked in battle with an insurance company. By not helping each other to understand the important parts of a claimant’s case, shortchanging is exactly what the professionals may be doing to their client-patient’s disability income case

Does anyone doubt that the lawyers and doctors, working on the defense for the insurance company, coordinate their efforts to try to put their best foot forward for their client? Why shouldn’t a claimant’s doctors and lawyers be able to work together to present the best case for their client?

The basic problem seems to be that the claimant’s doctor and lawyer are not employed and paid by a single entity, as are the professionals hired by the insurer to defend against the claim. Without this unitary control exercised by the insurer, who is paying them, professionals are subject to their past experiences and prejudices and, sometimes, one profession finds it difficult to cooperate with the other.

It can reasonably argued that an attorney who has spent the best part of his or her professional life reading and interpreting insurance policy language and dealing with insurance companies, is best qualified to know what is important and necessary to include in a disability income claim submission to the insurer.

On the other hand, doctors are clearly best qualified to make medical and psychiatric findings and to produce the necessary medical reports required by insurance companies.

With the expertise of each profession clearly established, and both having the same client-patient, why shouldn’t they be able to work together to present their client-patient’s claim in the best light?

Both professionals should want to do the best for their client-patients. In actuality, they don’t many times, because they view the needs of the case from their own medical or legal standpoint only and do not understand the other profession’s view.

Doctors and lawyers seem to have no patience or inclination to take the time to understand or to trust the judgment of the other profession. Because of this, client-patients do not, in some cases, get the full benefit of the professional knowledge and experience they need

Both professions should understand that the other is busy and overwhelmed with paperwork. Extra time is not usually available to either. Any unnecessary request, one to the other, should be avoided.

But, in the interests of the client-patient, they must communicate. Mistakes or ambiguities in a medical record or report can be fatal to a disability income claim and leave a patient to face a handicapped future without income for the patient or the family.

The attorney must take the time to explain clearly to the doctor what questions the medical or psychiatric reports must answer to meet the requirements of the patient’s insurance policy.

If the lawyer and the doctor retained by the claimant to press his case before the insurer don’t do their jobs properly, who will do it?

If the doctor and the lawyer approach each other in a considerate, respectful manner, there should be no problem in doing their jobs for the client-patient in a professional way. If the doctor and lawyer approach each other with a chip on their shoulder, there is a big problem.

The disability insurance client-patient has enough problems dealing with the insurance company. That’s why the professionals were retained. It is incumbent upon them to drop the “attitude”, if any, and get on with the work they were hired for.

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  Many people are not aware of it, but addiction to drugs, food or alcohol is a recognized disability under the terms of many disability income policies. If there is a true addiction and it prevents the insured from performing his or her occupational duties, it may be covered by an ERISA or a private policy.

The stigma and guilt usually associated with addiction may lead victims to believe that the addiction is their “fault” and that there is no coverage for this disability. Not so.
Addiction means just what it says – “I can’t help myself”.

Many times the addiction is the result of prescription pain medication given as treatment for injuries or illnesses. They may also be the result of nervous or psychological conditions which are very real to the afflicted person. When these conditions are added to the treatment protocol for the illness or injury the result may be an addiction which will not cure itself.

If the addiction is so bad that the person cannot perform the duties of the job, medical or psychiatric treatment is required, and, if there is coverage, the benefits of a disability income policy may very well be available.

However, it would be a mistake to think that the insurance company will accept an addiction claim without putting up a battle royal. After all, the courts are full of cases where the illness or injury would be clear to any neutral observer, but the insurance company puts up a no-holds-barred fight with its stable of IME doctors to try to discourage the claimant.

We have spoken before about the strategy insurers use to discourage claimants from pressing claims. They know that claimants are usually at a low point, without work and without income. See Docility. So, they turn up the screws to add more pressure by demanding more and more information and turning their pack of doctors loose on the claim.

Insurers make the claimant jump through hoops in an effort to get the claimant to back off. How do insurance companies react to claimants who say they can’t work because of an addiction? They play the stigma and “fault” cards for all they are worth.

If a person is in a position where they can’t stop eating, drinking or drugging to a point where they can’t do their job, they have to seek professional help and they may be entitled to disability benefits under the terms of their disability income policy.

However, when they do decide to make a claim, they should know that the road to income recovery will be a rough one, with the insurance company pulling out all of the stops to avoid paying. They should be certain they get the help they need, both legal and spiritual from an attorney who has successfully handled addiction cases before.

Insurance companies smell blood in the water when they see a case brought by someone whose affliction indicates a lower threshold for pain and suffering. Knowing this, if you decide to go ahead, be prepared to take some punches and travel around some roadblocks.

But, also know this – with an attorney who believes in your case in your corner, you can prevail.

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Because of a relatively few bad apples, the vast majority of lawyers have a mostly undeserved rep with the public.

Lawyer jokes abound and lawyers’ friends are only too happy to share the latest one with their pals who are members of the bar. Such conduct on the part of our friends doesn’t bother us one whit. We know that with all of this laughing and “hoo-hawing”, the first person these seemingly disdainful friends call when there is a serious problem of any kind is the butt of their lawyer jokes – us.

It makes it kind of easy for us to bear the jokes when we know that when the chips are down, the “laugher” is going to run “crying” to us for help and advice.

The reason we are on this subject at this “up” time of the year is an email we just received from a client, which makes all of the hard work, stress and lawyer jokes worthwhile.

Down through the years, we have come to understand that most clients consider the rule of thumb for lawyers is:

If the lawyer gets a good result, the client considers it is because the client had a peachy case; if there is a poor result it is because the lawyer handled the matter badly.

With this mantra stacked against us, it is really tough to get even a left-handed compliment from a client, no matter what the result.

That’s why we were so pleasantly surprised and delighted when one of our clients, whose matter was resolved in early 2010, thought it appropriate to write us to say “Thank You” in a heartfelt and sincere way. In our experience, it is unusual for a client to see and understand the value of what lawyers do beyond the fees we get paid. It is even more extraordinary when the client feels the need to communicate that feeling to us, especially long after the matter is concluded.

The email was just a few words, but it goes up in our Hall of Fame:

“December 28, 2010

“Dear Mr. Quiat:

“It is the end of the year a time for reflection and giving thanks. I wanted to let you how thankful I am for the services you provided us. I have kept your voice mail on my cell phone, it cheers me up everytime I listen to it. Thanks once again. “Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year. Good luck digging out from the snow!
                                                                    “a very grateful and appreciative client,…”

This matter involved a medical doctor who had an unusual medical problem on top of a particular clause in his policy which would, at first blush, seem to preclude any disability income benefits for him. The solution, which led to full benefits for him, took a close reading of the policy, intense medical research and a clear, well-reasoned appeal to the insurance company.

The fact that the work on his case followed the normal pattern of what we do in matters of this kind did not hide the value to him of what we do. And this doctor felt that what we do requires a THANK YOU even long after the matter was concluded.

Such thoughtfulness touched us deeply and brightens our recollection of the work we did in 2010. For that I thank the doctor from the bottom of my heart. It’s good to know that someone out there really understands what we do.

                                                  A Happy and Healthy New Year To All!!!

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A box of candy, a pound of cookies, a smiling “Please” or “Thank you”, may be of more help in pursuing a disability income insurance claim than you might think. But, not to the insurance company (though it never hurts to be polite and civil despite the way your claim is treated).

Kathleen, our gal Friday on disability claims, remarked to us the other day that she sometimes notices that our clients who bring a box of candy or some cookies for their doctor’s office staff once in a while, seem to get quicker attention paid to their forms and other insurance claim requests, than those claimants who go empty-handed.

When you think about it, it makes sense. People tend to reciprocate for kindness. Doctors and hospitals and their office staffs are people (even though sometimes their attitude makes one start to doubt it). And, many times these people are inundated by requests from patients and their insurance companies to complete an endless stream of repetitive forms on treatments, diagnosis and costs.

And, as is usually the case, these unglamorous office jobs get little attention from patients because they think they are relatively unimportant. And, they are when it comes to diagnosis and treatment, which is the reason you go to a doctor or hospital in the first place.

But, when your illness or injury becomes a claim for disability, the picture changes. The people who do the billing and the transcribing of reports and the filling out of the endless flow of forms, become the primary focus of your needs because you can bet the insurance company will demand reams of reams of papers from your doctors, before giving your claim serious consideration.

Couple this fact with the usually overworked doctor or hospital business staff, being
hard-pressed with overwhelming demand for information, and it’s easy to see how things can get jammed up.

So, just as in the everyday business world, a kind word or a small gift of appreciation goes a long way toward name recognition and a desire to reciprocate for kindness. In an overwhelmed office, if you are not one of the crowd and you have been pleasant to deal with, your file may just be moved to the head of the list of things to be done.

As in everything else, it never hurts to show appreciation.

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Chronic fatigue syndrome is not hoax. As long-time disability income insurance attorneys, we have seen too many people devastated by this disease to believe that it is not really a severe illness.

People in our line of work generally develop a knack for spotting falsity in claimants trying to wheedle their way into a long term benefits bonanza while still having plenty of capacity to work. We have always found that people truly suffering from CFS are really ill, although medicine has failed to find a viral or bacterial culprit.

Now, it appears that the causes of this devastating affliction are starting to see the light of day.

In an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times, author Hillary Johnson reports that a researcher has found a human gammaretrovirus, XMRV, was present in tissue samples of a significant number of chronic fatigue syndrome patients, going back as far as 1984. Recently discovered, XMRV is the third human gammaretrovirus, the other two being H.I.V. and human lymphotropic viruses, which cause leukemia and lymphoma.
 

For the full text of the article, see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/opinion/21johnson.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=XMRV &st=cse.

Hopefully, this discovery is the key to unlocking the mystery of CFS, which has plagued an expanding number of people down through the years. Finding a cause for this affliction would be the first step in finding a cure.

Having seen firsthand the devastation this malady causes in a person’s quality of life, a cure can’t come too soon.

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Being good can be very, very bad for disability income insurance claimants in many ways, all locked away in the fine print of the policy. See Mr. Nice Guy.

A recent New York case added a new pitfall for claimants who try working at a lesser job even when they are physically or mentally not up to it. Insurance companies ambush unsuspecting “Good Joes” waiting for them to fall into the trap of trying to continue to work even if they can’t hack it because of their disability.

The issue in McCauley v. First Unum Life Ins. Co., 551 F.3rd 126 (2nd Cir., 2008) , did not involve the warning we issued in Mr. Nice Guy. McCauley dealt with the insurance company tactic of wrongfully withholding benefits and thereby forcing a disabled person to do anything in order to live, and then claiming that the new work cut off the insured’s right to claim the disability under the terms of the policy.

The First Unum policy in this case contained a provision that if the insured was employed for more than 6 months while earning more than 80% of predisability income, the insured would not be entitled to benefits.

After Unum wrongfully denied him benefits, the insured, desperately needing money to live, worked for 8 months at a salary exceeding the 80% limit. He worked at a company which was sympathetic to his disabling condition and employed him anyway, recognizing the limitations of his disability. But, even with this compassionate help and despite his pressing financial needs, the claimant could not continue because his condition was too debilitating.

Even though the policy was governed by the ERISA statute, First Unum jumped on the issue of claimant’s employment for 8 months, citing the policy language, even though First Unum’s wrongful denial of benefits put the claimant in a position where he needed money to live so desperately, that he was forced to try to work, no matter how trying or demeaning it was to work in his condition.

But, the court, in its wisdom, applied the ERISA doctrine of unconscionability, declaring that to wrongfully deny ERISA benefits and force a disabled claimant to try to earn income at peril to his health, and then to claim this employment destroys the claimant’s right to benefits, is unconscionable and First Unum’s denial of benefits would not stand.

It is heartening when a court recognizes that the reality of just trying to go on living trumps the cold, hard, sometimes unrealistic and impractical, language insurance companies use in their policies.

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There’s nothing a disability insurance carrier likes better than a claimant who is “Mr. Nice Guy”. These are people who keep trying to do work even though they can no longer continue the occupation for which they have an “own occupation” policy and have a
clear cut claim for disability benefits.

What’s wrong with trying to keep working, one may be tempted to say? It’s the pioneer spirit. “Don’t give up the ship” and all that.

What’s wrong is that Mr. Nice Guy may scuttle his claim for benefits by trying to work at another job before making a claim under his policy. The carrier may have the right to say the claimant can perform duties similar to the ones he is performing at the time the claim is made, so he is not disabled as defined in the policy and, therefore, is not entitled to any benefits, let alone benefits for the occupation and income intended to be protected when the policy was purchased.
The problem is that “own occupation” is interpreted to mean the actual occupation at the time of claim – not the original occupation for which the insured originally purchased coverage.

So, if you modify your occupation to accommodate a disability, by giving up the duties you can no longer perform, then those duties are no longer considered part of your occupation when you subsequently file a disability claim.

Also, even if the carrier has to pay, the carrier may be required only to pay benefits based upon the salary or income of Mr. Nice Guy’s employment at the time of making the claim. These benefits would likely be much less than the benefits originally contemplated by the policyholder at the time of purchase. And the hefty premiums paid for the anticipated coverage would be gone with the wind.

So, if you have been astute enough to cover yourself and your family with an “own occupation” disability policy and you become disabled under its terms, don’t be a Mr. Nice Guy. To be safe, make your claim with your insurer under the terms of your “own occupation” policy when you become disabled under its terms and before you start doing any other work.

Certainly be Mr. Nice Guy to your family, your friends and even to people you may meet in the street. But, not to your disability insurance carrier.
 

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Federal judges finally seem to be coming to grips with phony “independent” medical examinations set up by many disability insurance carriers to deny claims, thereby feathering their own financial nests.

Lately there have been a trickle of cases in which the courts take a closer look at the relationship between the physicians insurance companies use to “independently examine” claimants and the insurance companies themselves. See Solomon v. MetLife, 2009 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 51507 (S.D.N.Y. June 18,2009). 

It is no surprise that those “independent examining” doctors, relying in large part or fully on insurance company fees for their living, are frequently unable to see any merit to a claim.
 

Actually, the insurance company’s “examining” physician oftentimes doesn’t even see or physically examine the claimant. Only the medical paperwork provided by the claimant in support of the claim is “examined”, and it is on this “review of the record” that the doctor bases his or her opinion, most often finding the claimant is not disabled.
While the insurers are doing nothing to redress this obvious tilt of the playing field in their direction by setting up truly independent medical exams, Federal Courts are increasingly recognizing the basic unfairness of the situation.
 

In making decisions on ERISA disability claims, courts are beginning to take into account the relationship between the insurance company and the doctors they hire and pay as “independents”.
Courts are recognizing more and more that physicians who rely on these insurance “evaluation” assignments for a significant portion of their income know that if they find the claim valid too often, they will soon find no requests for examinations from the insurance company.
 

No requests, no exam fees, no income.
 

In fact, these medical exams are such a lucrative business that there are several agencies in the business of engaging doctors to examine claimants for insurance companies. This makes it easy for the companies to have physicians to conduct exams without having them on payroll (and, perhaps, making it look fairer to a casual observer). Such a system makes it easier for doctors who don’t want to actually practice (or are not competent to do so), get exam assignments without having to go through the trouble of looking for them.
 

However, one would have to be quite naïve to believe that the agencies and the physicians whom they employ for this work are not fully aware of which side of their bread has the butter.
 

The insurers have found a way to call a medical exam “independent” while retaining almost complete control of its outcome.
 

With the Solomon case, courts are getting closer to the bone with the purported neutrality of these “independent” physicians. Rather than just accept the statements of these “independent” doctors, the court looks at their personal (substitute “financial”) interest in the outcome of the exam and what they actually did medically to reach their conclusions.
 

Until a court is satisfied that all of the answers to these questions are fair to both the claimant and the insurer, courts should absolutely reject insurance company ERISA claim denials based upon such purported “independent” medical exams.

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If an adjustor or other agent of your disability income insurer wants to talk with you as a claimant, talk. But, there is no way you should invite the agent into your home or office. Meet the agent at your lawyer’s office with your lawyer present.

By the very nature of the insurer-claimant relationship, it is obvious the insurer is not your friend. Therefore, neither is the insurer’s employee, the adjustor.

An adjustor may try to charm you into a “convenient” visit to your home just to get “your view” of your claim. Don’t fall for this line. The adjustor works for the insurance company which is trying its “darndest” to reject your claim or at least find some reason for reducing it.

Why host a meeting at your home or office which will give your adversary a leg up on how you live, what you own and how tough an adversary you are likely to be? Also, acting as a “host” you are less likely to carefully scrutinize the statement that the adjustor is likely to write as you talk and ask you to sign.

If the adjustor wants to talk, your policy requires you to cooperate and talk. But, the time and place of the discussion has to be mutually agreed upon.

The best place for such a meeting is your lawyer’s office with your lawyer acting as host.

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Because a disability income insurance claim requires you and your physician(s) not only to describe the medical (or psychological) nature of your disability but also why the disability makes it impossible for you to perform your occupational duties, any error or uncertainty is guaranteed to be seized upon by the insurer and used to attack your right to benefits.

Why is it of vitally more importance for a claimant to have good, knowledgeable advice about how to file a disability claim before filing a claim, than it is in filing a claim in just about any other field of insurance? An expert should help you understand the details required to file a DI claim in an accurate, responsible manner, with the proper supporting documents in proper form so that the insurance company will have no technical excuse for rejecting the claim or demanding more information from you before reviewing your claim.

This is particularly so if your claim is covered by the ERISA statute. Giving your insurer the least little edge at the time of filing your notice, provides the insurer with a big leg up in resisting benefits payments to you. This is because the ERISA statute provides the insurer with the first opportunity to declare whether, in its opinion, your claim is valid or invalid. More on ERISA.

It’s the same as with anything else. The party starting off with a decision in its favor has the advantage in that the other party -- in this case you -- has the burden of proof to show that the original decision is faulty. Sometimes when trying to do this, you are forced to rely heavily on the papers and reports you supplied in making the claim and if these documents are in error or are incomplete, they can hurt you in trying tomeet this burden of proof.

While on the subject of filing a claim, an important part of this area is the type of medical and occupational reports which are furnished to the insurer on your behalf. Medical experts are very important to presentation of your disability income claim as the entire basis of your position is that your illness or injury prevents you from attending to your occupation or, perhaps, any occupation.

So, the first thing is to be hopefully treated and examined by a doctor who is fully familiar with and experienced in your disability. However, no matter how skilled and knowledgeable a physician is, it does your insurance claim no good if the doctor can’t or won’t properly communicate the details of your true condition and the nature of your restrictions and limitations to the disability insurer.

So, while you are being treated it behooves you to express clearly to your physician that you expect to make a claim under a disability income policy. You may also explain that since you are disabled and can’t work, under the terms of your policy your future depends on the doctor providing the insurer accurate and complete reports on your condition.

Request that the doctor personally attend to any reports required on your behalf and that the reports be as complete and thorough as possible in describing your condition.

Try to impress upon your treating professionals how much your future wellbeing depends on the outcome of your disability claim and how you would appreciate their full and complete attention to your reports.

After all, just as in treating your injury or illness, the doctor’s knowledge and attention to detail in reporting your true condition determines your future.
 

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Taking the first step in filing a claim for disability income benefits is not nearly the same as filing a claim for an auto accident, which is how many of us have our first claims experience with insurance companies. In fact, it is so different that an unintentional mistake in this first step can bring your whole hope of obtaining a benefit to a crashing halt, never to be resurrected.

In filing auto insurance claims, one usually gets the police report to open the claim and then follows with medical reports detailing the injury as a follow up. This procedure is usually enough to have the insurer either deny the claim or start to negotiate a settlement with you.

Not so with disability income insurance claims. With these claims there is an added factor – not only must you show you were you incapacitated to some degree by accident or illness, but you must also show that the incapacity prevented you from performing your work, either your usual occupation or any occupation, depending on the terms of your policy.

What makes this first step so vital is that disability carriers have large staffs of trained, experienced people going over disability income claims with a fine-toothed comb looking for any omission or inconsistency in the claim submission. It may be that your doctor’s report was too general in describing your disabling condition or that your description of your occupational duties omitted a key element or mistakenly described one of its functions. Without experience in filing such claims you would have no way of knowing you were making such an error.

If your disability income claim contains an error or omission, it will haunt you throughout your upcoming battle for proper benefits. At any administrative or judicial hearing, the insurance company will continually bring up the “warts” on your initial claim form to try to impeach your claim, no matter how you amend it to conform to what is required.

At the very least, the insurer will use the inadequacies of the initial claim to delay paying whatever monies may be due you.

The best defense against this insurance company defense tactic is to file a complete, accurate initial claim form.

Save yourself loads of headache – get it right from the get-go.


 

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With financial earnings in the dumps and prospects for an early recovery dim, insurance companies with disability income and other long-term payouts on their books are on the prowl for claimants who need cash NOW!

Disability insurers know that many of their beneficiaries are having trouble making mortgage payments, meeting college tuitions or just plain paying their bills in this severe economic turndown.

With long term disability beneficiaries in a stressed and highly vulnerable mode, having lost a good part of their incomes and retirement packages in the stock market meltdown, what better time to dangle a relatively large lump sum of cash in front of the insured?

Policy and settlement buyouts are complex issues and broad experience in successfully negotiating such deals is critical. Insurers like nothing better than dealing with a novice in buyout negotiations, especially if the novice needs the money and allows personal involvement determine the outcome.

How tempting for a beneficiary to grab a lump sum now and not worry about the long term consequences.

Issues which must be carefully considered for the beneficiary are:
 

* Understanding the true value of the claim.
* Family circumstances and needs.
* Are there other investments or incomes (i.e., annuities? pensions? SSDI?) which will replace the settled-away insurance benefits for the family?
* In view of the nature of the disability, what is the likelihood of the beneficiary living to the end of the benefit term? These benefits usually end at death.
* In view of the nature of the disability, what is the likelihood of the beneficiary recovering the ability to resume work before the end of the benefit period? Ability to resume occupation as described in the policy would terminate DI benefit payments.

To try to answer some of these thorny questions, a knowledgeable, experienced, not-personally-involved, adviser in the beneficiary’s corner is a must.


 

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Most plaintiffs’ disability income insurance lawyers are aware of the heightened emotional and psychological needs of their clients – up to a point. Our Kathleen takes up whatever slack our clients miss in the way we communicate with them.

Although attorneys in the disability field know that their clients are usually in pain, economically behind the 8-ball and aching for some one to talk to them about all aspects of their case, attorneys are not always able to spend all of the time on the phone some clients think they require.

That’s where Our Kathleen comes in. She is a paralegal who is knowledgeable about the factual requirements of properly pursuing a disability income claim. But more than that, she seems to have a natural empathy about the human needs of the people filing such claims. And, she makes the time to talk to clients and prospective clients who call our office and need a “listener” who cares, shares and wants to help.

Every attorney in plaintiffs’ disability insurance work would do well to make sure they have an “Our Kathleen” on staff to alleviate some of the stress their clients are feeling as they pursue their claim under the most trying circumstances.

That’s if you can find another Kathleen.

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Ever wonder why insurance companies pursue a policy of turning down apparently valid claims out of hand? I have and the only thing I can figure is that they are relying on the “docility” factor. They have found through experience that a substantial number of people will accept a turndown, right or wrong, and do nothing further about it.

One would expect an insurance company to have a tendency to say “no” when asked to pay a claim. That is not what is surprising. What is surprising is that they say “no” in cases where they know they are likely to have to pay. This is because when they say “no”, there are a slew of additional costs in defending a claim which they know they are likely to have to pay anyway.

Why they do this is a mystery which seems to have one likely solution – they do it because it saves the insurers money.

The one thing you can bet on with certainty is that insurance companies can mathematically calculate the probability of any financial result they face. They know how much the legal, medical, court, and internal costs of litigating a claim will likely be.  And, they know these costs are substantial. So, why do they do it?

They do it because they have also calculated the “docility” factor – the chance that a valid claimant will not challenge a denial of a claim for a variety of reasons. Nobody but the insurance companies know the percentage of valid, but denied, claims which are never pushed to a conclusion, but even if the number is between 10% and 20%, the savings turn out to be a big windfall for the insurance companies.

Some of the reasons people may not fight for their rights are innate - they hate conflict and controversy. Other reasons (excuses) are:
 

• "You can't fight City Hall", i.e.,insurance companies are too big and powerful ever to be challenged by an individual.
• They find it difficult to cope with stress.
• They believe the insurance company acted fairly and made an unprejudiced decision.
• They won’t take the risk of spending money on fees without a guarantee they will win.
• They have an aversion to getting involved with a lawyer (I wonder if insurance companies have been fostering all of those “shark” jokes about lawyers). The vast majority of lawyers don’t bite, no matter what the jokes lead you to believe. If they are retained by you, lawyers work for you and only for you and your claim.

There is a whole host of reasons (maybe excuses) why a goodly number of people will not take on an insurance company. And, in that goodly number of people lies a treasure for insurers.

This is particularly so in disability income and long term care insurance claims. The payments for these types of claims can go on for decades and cost millions of dollars. Evading payment on 10% or 20% of these types of claims comes to a hefty amount of money saved for the insurance companies. And, since insurers do this consistently, one has to believe that they know that the “docility” savings more than offset what they spend to defend claims they know they will have to pay – if the claimants undertake and follow through on the job of properly pursuing the claim.

Advice to the leery claimant: Before you become one of the “docility” herd, have a competent insurance attorney evaluate your claim and advise you on if and how to challenge a denied claim.

Only then is it fair to yourself to decide whether or not to pursue you claim.
 

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The easier things become, the harder some people make them. Wouldn’t you think that when medical science advances so that a patient can swallow a pill and replace chemotherapy with all the expense and trouble it involves, it would make the treatment process simpler? Wrong!

As President Obama said recently, insurance payment protocols, like the ship of state, are humongous, and can’t be changed quickly. Pill treatment, which would seem a no-brainer since it will lead to less medical and hospital costs for patients and therefore insurance companies, should be received with open arms by insurers. Not so.

As reported in the New York Times recently, insurance companies seem to be hung up on the issue of how to classify pill treatment. Drugs which are administered at a clinic or hospital are usually treated as a medical benefit. Prescription drug plans cover pills and normally require copayments which are sometimes substantial.

With all of the talk about how Social Security and Medicare are going broke, why don’t the insurers or the government jump on this opportunity to save big dollars on cancer drug treatment?

Some one in authority should do a fast analysis of what it costs to go to a place, have a trained medical person administer an infusion, have a doctor on premises, pay for the chemicals, the rent, equipment and personnel, and compare it to the cost of the pill medication. It seems obvious that the lesser cost would be the pill even omitting the patient’s loss of time and transportation costs.

The State of Oregon, according to the Times, is the only state so far to deal with the situation. It 2007, Oregon passed a law requiring insurers to reimburse oral and intravenous chemotherapy drugs equally. Other states, including Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma and Washington are in the process of passing similar legislation.

I’m thinking a lot more states ought to be joining the parade – and ASAP.
 

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