A recent federal court ruling from Washington state was harshly critical of a disability insurer’s treatment of a benefit claimant suffering from multiple sclerosis. The case, Gorena v. Aetna Life Insurance Co., 2018 WL 2113952 (W.D. Wash., May 8, 2018), involved Sarah Gorena, who worked as a staff analyst at Boeing for more than 10 […]
Multiple Sclerosis is a serious neurological disorder that is often disabling. The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation estimates that more than 400,000 people in the United States suffer some level of symptoms from the condition. Not all cases lead to disability. However, the condition can progress to the point that continuing to work is no longer an option for […]
A recent ruling from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals emphasized the importance of in-person examinations in relation to disability benefits. In Guest-Marcotte v. Life Insurance Company of North America, 2018 WL 1578090 (6th Cir. March 30, 2018)(Unpublished), the plaintiff, Kimberly Guest-Marcotte, filed a claim for disability benefits due to Ehlers-Danlos syndrome Type III, […]
The outcome of Simmons v. Paul Revere Life Insurance Co., 2018 WL 558960 (W.D. Wash., Jan. 25, 2018), discussed in Part 1 of this column on Monday is not as clear-cut as the court found. Since Dr. William Simmons, a dentist, was no longer able to perform a number of material job duties that were a major part of his practice prior to his car accident, his claim raised serious issues about the protection his disability policy provided.
A recent article published by Bloomberg Law offers a stark warning to disability insurance claimants who use social media. The article by Jacklyn Wille entitled “Facebook Has a New Friend: Disability Insurers” (https://www.bna.com/facebook-new-friend-n73014475033/) discusses insurers’ use of social media to investigate disability insurance claimants.
Qualifying for disability benefits often requires claimants to face many hurdles. An initial claim denial is not the end of the road, though. If you have group coverage, it is likely governed by ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. One of the benefits of ERISA is that if a claim is denied, the claimant […]