In Shepherd, Montana, a registered nurse required long-term disability benefits for a number of comorbid medical conditions. At first, CIGNA approved her benefits, only to terminate them early and without due cause. Dabdoub Law Firm and our long-term disability insurance lawyers stepped in, argued on behalf of our client, and successfully managed to have her LTD benefits reinstated.
RN LTD Claim Termination
Our client worked as a registered nurse at a dialysis clinic for years. She thoroughly enjoyed her work and never intended to retire early from it. However, she suffered from a variety of disabling medical conditions, including but not limited to migraines, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and lumbar disease.
After trying her best to continue working for as long as she could, she had to resort to filing for LTD benefits, as continued employment became too painful to bear.
Upon reviewing her medical conditions, CIGNA approved her LTD benefits, which seems to be a great win for our client. However, in January 2019, the insurance company decided to terminate the benefits early. Bizarrely, the termination did not coincide with any reported improvement of her medical conditions. That is to say, CIGNA seemed to decide what once validated LTD benefits suddenly did not.
RN LTD Appeal Approved
Dabdoub Law Firm got to work to prove that our client’s medical condition did not change. At the least, it certainly did not improve. In particular, she still struggled with hand coordination and prolonged work, even at the sedentary level.
To keep performing any of her expected job duties as a registered nurse at a dialysis clinic, our client would need to make an instantaneous and remarkable improvement.
Of course, no such medical miracle occurred. We reviewed statements from her primary care physicians and other treating doctors. All agreed it was reasonable to define our client as disabled to the point of being unable to continue work.
We uncovered that CIGNA used an all-too-common insurance tactic of allowing their own physician to decide if LTD benefits are warranted or not. In this case, CIGNA asked a doctor of occupational medicine to evaluate all of her disabilities, many of which were well outside his specialty.
In a counter response sent to CIGNA, our long-term disability insurance attorneys presented clear evidence that our client had made no medical improvement. We also challenged the authority of their chosen physician to make such a medical decision, given his background. CIGNA chose to concede, and our client’s LTD benefits have been reinstated.
Our Disability Attorneys Can Help You
Dabdoub Law Firm was built to be a disability insurance law firm. Because all our disability lawyers focus on disability insurance claims, we have significant experience with every major disability insurance company and have won important disability lawsuits.
We can help at any stage of your long-term disability claim, including:
- Submitting a disability insurance claim;
- Appealing a long-term disability denial; or
- Filing a lawsuit against your disability insurance company.
Hiring an experienced disability attorney is important. Because federal law applies to most disability insurance claims, our lawyers do not have to be located in your state.
Call (800) 969-0488 for a free consultation with an experienced disability attorney.
