New York Life

New York Life left me with no choice but to return to work – even though I shouldn't have

Reviewed by Erica Berndt on July 24th 2013   Verified Policyholder
I am a 27 year old single mother, who has worked in customer service for a chemical company for almost 3 years. However in early 2012 I started have lower back pain and left leg swelling. I went to my doctor and he sent me for a lumbar MRI that found I had 2 herniated disk L4 and L5 as well as severe arthritis in both of my hip along with sciatica. I did my best to deal with the pain taking the burst of steroids and pain meds up until mid July of 2012. At that time my doctor told me my condition was getting worse, and thought it would be best to rest so he took me off from work. During this time I under went 3 steroid injections, physical therapy, on top of a number of medications that never really helped. However me being so young I wanted to get back to life so I talked my doctor in to allowing me to go back to work when I was able to put some weight on my left leg and also the swelling to go down and stay down for the most part, and that was in November 2012. But as my luck would have it. On February 25 I fell on some ice and was in more pain than before, but this time it was like a lighting bolt of pain starting at my lower back down my left leg to my toes as well as my right. After another MRI they have diagnosed me with deterring disk and joint disorder and again they take me off from work, however this time I have New York Life for my disability company STD and LTD, at first it seem like they were going to help me. However I was wrong, they approved my claim starting March 1 to March 21, after that they told me I would have to file an appeal. I wrote the letter they asked me too and I sent them copies of all of my MRIs, I also had my family Dr. and my specialist send in ever record and they still denied me due to lack of quantification. This caused me to go in a deep depression as i was going broke I had used up all my savings and most of my 401k. It had gotten so bad I ended up in a come for a week, from a overdose suicide attempt, then after leaving the ICU I then was sent to another hospital for a week. Now since all my money is gone and my whole life is ruined, I had no choice but to return to work as my son and I need a home and food. So on June 22 of 2013 I pretty much forced my primary doctor to let me go back to work. Now I suffer day in and day out from the and stress of money problems! I really hope someone can help me… I would love to see New York Life suffer as they have made all of us! They are no better then people who steal and rob from good hard working people.
Reply
Sent on July 24th 2013 by Attorney Stephen Jessup

Erica, thank you for sharing your story, unfortunately yours is not an uncommon one. What you experienced is a technique we like to call being “starved into submission.” Many people dealing with LTD carriers and the delay and denials have no choice but to find a way to return to work so they can survive. This in turn leads to a “win” by the insurance company as they view it as proof their decision was correct. Compounding this further is the fact that under ERISA, you have no legal recourse for any type of extra contractual damages for the hardships endured.