Disability Benefits

Disability Insurer Taken to Task Over Vocational Assessment

by Mark Debofsky | Feb 25, 2016 | Disability Benefits, Long Term Disability

A recent ruling from a federal court in Kentucky raised serious concerns about the validity of vocational assessments performed by disability insurance companies.

In Bishop v. Aetna Life Insurance Co., 2016 WL 591765 (E.D. Ky., Feb. 12, 2016), the court overturned a denial of disability benefits after finding that Aetna improperly disregarded a Social Security determination and that its vocational assessment was markedly flawed and biased.

Court casts questioning eye on whether doctors’ review was fair, independent

by Mark Debofsky | Jan 21, 2016 | Disability Benefits, Mental vs. Physical Disabilities

Two lessons taught by a recently decided case from Indiana are that insurers need to fairly and independently assess disability claims and must consider the co-morbidity of multiple physical and psychological impairments.

Aetna and the courts

by Mark Debofsky | Jan 9, 2016 | Disability Benefits, Pain and Disability

Aetna Life Insurance Company has attracted significant judicial scorn of late in the manner in which it adjudicates disability benefits.Two recent decisions are illustrative – Jalowiec v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 2015 WL 9294269 (D. Minn. December 21, 2015) and Granville v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 2015 WL 9026025 (M.D. Pa. December 15, 2015). In […]

Role pain plays in disability spotlighted

by Mark Debofsky | Dec 2, 2015 | Disability Benefits, Pain and Disability

Pain is often a key factor in disability claims. The Social Security Administration has established guidelines for the assessment of pain as a factor in determining disability (20 C.F.R. Section 404.1529), and the influential Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (6th edition 2008) published by the American Medical Association looks to the following: Congruence […]

Department of Labor Proposes New Regulations for Disability Benefit Claims

by Mark Debofsky | Nov 21, 2015 | Disability Benefits, ERISA

The Department of Labor has proposed new regulations for disability benefit claims that will provide better protections for claimants.

“Clear that Aetna’s goal was to deny the plaintiff’s claim”

by Mark Debofsky | Nov 14, 2015 | Disability Benefits

A recent ruling issued by a federal court in Philadelphia illustrated a number of issues relevant to disability insurance claims brought under ERISA. In Charles v. UPS Long Term Disability Plan, 2015 WL 6600399 (E.D. Pa. October 29, 2015), after first finding the plaintiff was limited to part time work and thus unable to work […]