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No one in their 20s expects an unfortunate disease or event to keep them from working before reaching retirement. However, one in four of today’s 20-year-olds will face a disabling condition before retirement age that keeps them from working for a year or more, according to statistics. How many are prepared for that possibility? People […]

The California Department of Insurance regulates the insurance industry in the state. If you suspect your insurance company has been surveilling you while you’re out on a workers’ compensation claim, a disability claim, or even a personal injury (auto accident) claim, you can go to the department’s website and search for “surveillance.” If you do, […]

Millions of people around the world are COVID long haulers, which means they are experiencing symptoms of the disease many months after having an acute bout of the illness. The Journal of the American Medical Association performed a comprehensive analysis of studies and found that more than half of COVID patients suffer from long-haul symptoms. […]

WHEN AN LTD CLAIM BECOMES NECESSARY People with lupus, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, arthritis, spinal stenosis, depression and other serious conditions often work with serious challenges that many people do not understand. Despite engaging in a heroic struggle to remain on the job, a person afflicted with such a condition may reach a point where he […]

An unexpected illness or injury can befall anyone. Whether you are a physician, osteopath, attorney, architect, scientist, accountant, a manager, supervisor or other employee of a city, county or state, a construction worker, restaurant manager, hotel clerk or you pursue any other type of occupation, you may one day find yourself to be disabled. Your […]

When reviewed by the District Court, the ERISA disability denial is often — but not always — subject to the “de novo” standard of review rather than the “discretionary” standard of review. Under the “discretionary” standard of review (also known as the “abuse of discretion” standard of review, the District Court must defer to the […]

An insurance company will often deny a claim for total disability on the ground that is based solely on the claimant’s “self-reports.”  The insurance company is especially likely to assert this “self-report” defense where the claimant suffers from a condition like chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia that rarely, if ever, produces any “objective findings” on […]

If you have suffered personal injuries due to the negligence of another party, such as in an auto accident or in some other circumstance, and you have medical insurance that has paid some or all of your resulting medical expenses on your behalf, the wrong doer cannot claim that such medical insurance payments should reduce […]

Many insurance companies insist that a person suffering from fibromyalgia must provide “objective evidence” of disability in order to qualify for disability benefits.  A number of federal decisions, however, make very clear that a person seeking disability benefits for fibromyalgia need not establish “objective evidence” of disability. In Hawkins v. First Union Corp. Long-Term Disability Plan, […]

When an insurance company denies a claim, it will purport to state the reasons on which it bases its denial.  The insurance company’s reasons are all too often no more than a pretext for denying a claim it knows it should pay.  If the case proceeds to litigation, the insurance company will then assert any […]