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  1. #1

    Default Terminated During Short-Term Disability, Now Can't Get LTD

    My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Ohio.

    My company paid for short term disability insurance and I paid for long term disability through my company. I have become disabled and was approved for short term disability. The short term disabiltiy runs for 6 months then transtions into long term. My FMLA time ran out and my company terminated me. Now I'm being told by long term (even though they had sent me an approval letter initially) that because my short term was cut short by my termination that I am no longer eligible for the long term insurance. If the long term insurance doesn't kick in until 6 months, and my company can, and of course will terminate me after FMLA runs out, why was I paying for long term? How would I ever have been able to collect?!

    This has been a fight from the get go and haven't been able to get information we need from either employer or insurance company. I was a good employee. I've worked hard all my life. I just don't understand this. Please help.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Terminated During Std Now Can't Get Ltd

    Did the disability carrier tell you this?

  3. #3

    Default Re: Terminated During Std Now Can't Get Ltd

    Yes. They (the insurance company) had approved me for long term and sent me a letter stating that I was approved. Then they called today and said that because I was terminated 2 months ago during my short term disability coverage (4 months into my disability), that coverage was denied and now I am not eligible for long term.

    I have been telling them all along that I was terminated and on what date. It was considered voluntary resignation because I could not return. I mentioned getting a lawyer and asked why in the world I would have paid for long term disability if this was how it worked, and they back pedaled a little bit and the rep said she will need to further review the contract and call me back. I can't believe they have put me through so much stress in the last few months with interviews and now they are saying I was never even eligible for long term due to the date of my termination. And I've been paying for the LTD through Cobra for two months!!

    This just doesn't make sense. If this is the way it works why in the world would anyone pay for LTD insurance. I worked for a large corporation and it's a given that once your FMLA is up you are out. I never would have paid for the insurance if I had known this. Can this really be legal? We could lose everything. I'm too sick to handle the fighting and incompetence we've had to deal with. My mother has been working with them on my behalf much of the time. And she has her own health issues and I worry for her.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Terminated During Std Now Can't Get Ltd

    That is highly unusual. That is not even close to the way it usually works.

    Yes, it's legal. The law does not dictate to disabilty carriers when they may and may not terminate benefits. It goes strictly by the wording of the policy. But it is unusual to the point of being almost unheard of for STD benefits to terminate when your employment does. This is only the second time in 30 years I've heard of such a policy, and I've been administrating group benefits all that time.

    If I were you, I'd go back and look at the STD policy again. Make sure benefits really are tied to employment. That's just not how it works.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Terminated During Std Now Can't Get Ltd

    I think I have figured out what has happened here. I was out of work for two months then returned. I wanted so badly to be able to work through my illness so that I wouldn't lose my job. I couldn't and was back out on disability 26 days later. I was told by the insurance company and HR that this would continue as part of the same claim. When asked when I should contact long term they said it would automatically transition in 3 months. I thought that my short term disability insurance ran for 6 months because of what they were telling me. In fact the long term should have started months before it did which would have been before I was terminated.

    I have finally gotten a plan summary for my LTD (still trying to get one for STD, you wouldn't believe how hard it has been to get this info. My company outsources most of their HR functions and it's a nightmare). According to my ltd contract my elimination period was 90 days and as long as I was back to work less than 30 days it should have still fallen under the same elimination period. Now things are starting to make sense. The LTD should have been started a month before I was terminated but wasn't because the STD people fouled up and started a new claim. So much makes sense now. I get now why this has been a bungled mess. The LTD rep has even insinuated that things were not handled well by short term and has at times seemed confused by the info she's received. Now I'm wondering if I will have to pay for their mistake? If it was their mistake that caused me to lose coverage before my long term kicked in surely they will correct it. It has been so hard to get clear answers from anyone, I pray that they will do the right thing. If not, I surely have a legal case don't I?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: Terminated During Short-Term Disability, Now Can't Get LTD

    If they violate the terms of the policy, yes. The trick, in cases like this, is establishing that the policy was violated.

    It can't hurt for you to show both policies to an attorney versed in benefit law and see what he thinks.

  7. #7

    Default Re: Terminated During Short-Term Disability, Now Can't Get LTD

    Thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it.

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