Disabling Conditions

Crohn’s Disease Short And Long Term Disability Insurance Claim Help

Even though Crohn’s disease causes seriously incapacitating symptoms that prevent many people from working, your disability insurance company will not make it easy to receive the disability benefits you qualify for. Most disability insurance companies don’t understand Crohn’s and think it is nothing more than a bad stomach ache. We have helped many claimants where the insurance company has told the claimant that if there is desk is close to a bathroom then they should be able to work. Obviously this is a ridiculous position. Our disability insurance attorneys can help you at any stage of the process, including the application, appeal a claim denial or filing a lawsuit in state or federal court. We know what tactics the disability insurance providers will utilize, and we know how to counter them.

Common Reasons for Denial of a Crohn’s Disease Disability Claim

Due to the chronic nature of Crohn’s disease, disability carriers will often argue that since you dealt with the condition for years, it is not a disabling condition at this time. Carriers will try to argue that medication and temporary time off can control your condition. Many carriers will try to argue that the condition is a mental nervous condition and should be limited to two years of benefits only. Another unreasonable argument.

Our firm has helped disability claimants seek their benefits since 1979. We offer a free consultation so we can go over your case and give you an assessment of your best options. We are available to assist you anywhere in the USA.

Resources

For more information about Crohn’s disease, you can visit:
– Healthline: About Crohn’s Disease

You can also come back to this page, which we frequently update with resolved cases regarding Crohn’s disease and any new regulations that could affect your benefits.

Recently Resolved Cases (1)

Dell & Schaefer gets Cigna to Reinstate Long Term Disability Benefits for Former Maryland Teacher Suffering from Crohn’s Disease

Cases & Claim Tips (5)

Comments (14)

CSM, please feel free to contact our office to discuss your situation in detail. If you do not have a copy of your company STD/LTD policy I strongly suggest you obtain a copy so we can be better situated to advise you of your rights/options under same.
Stephen Jessup May 30, 2017 #14
I live in CA and work for a company out of state. I was recently diagnosed with UC and within two weeks my diagnosis was elevated to Crohn’s following some bloodwork, MRI, Xray, etc. For the past 6-9 months I have had the typical symptoms associated with this disease that are causing considerable pain, stress and anxiety in my life especially when I’m on the road (air travel), about 60-70 percent of the time. My symptoms are making it extremely difficult to continue with my current job requirements and I fear that I may not be able to continue this way much longer. I’m a mid-level executive earning approximately $150k-200k per year. I do have LTD insurance through work and want to know my rights and options and whether filing for benefits is the right choice. Is there a time limit for filing for LTD benefits after leaving my current employer (voluntary or involuntary)? Can I quit my job then apply for LTD coverage through my current group coverage? Please help! CSM
CSM May 29, 2017 #13
Michelle,
If you have already filed your appeal you will have to allow the carrier the 45 days to render a decision. With respect to what information is needed to perfect the claim it is impossible to say without knowing details regarding medical records and job duties. That being said, you need information from your doctor that clearly supports how your condition prevents you from performing the duties of your occupation (sitting, standing, carrying, cognitive, fatigue, etc).
Stephen Jessup Dec 9, 2015 #12
I was diagnosed 7 years ago with crohns.. in the beginning I seen a gastroenterologists and was given medications… but stopped seeing the doctor. The time on between I would occasionally have light flare ups.. however recently in Aug was my first big flare up. I missed several days of work and came in late and left early because of the symptoms. I went out of work in November and applied for STD.. however was denied. There reason : medical documentationschool received in relation to the requirements of my job, I did not meet the definition of disability thus no benefits are payable. I did file an appeal and sent it in.. I’m not sure what my next step should be to become eligible for benefits..?
Michelle Dec 8, 2015 #11
Jim,
You will have to review the terms/conditions and requirements in the Policy as to the increase in benefit. There might be language that would limit exercising the increase of benefits for any conditions determined to be pre-existing.
Stephen Jessup Dec 6, 2013 #10
I was enrolled in STD and Life insurance through a group plan at work. I have been with this company since april of 2011 and believe i have been enrolled in both after a 90 day period in 2011. This year I was officially diagnosed with crohn’s. I also have a child on the way and was going to attempt to increase both my STD and Life Insurance to hopefully take care of the family if something does happen to me. Is there any reason they would deny my ability to increase the amounts of either the STD or Life Insurance policy through my group plan at work seeing as I was already enrolled prior to being diagnosed? I’m in Illinois if that makes a difference.
Thank you!
Jim Dec 5, 2013 #9
Joe,
If you had a disability insurance policy from your employer or one your privately purchased from an agent we may be able to assist you. However, if there has been no legal action taken in four years, certain Statute of Limitations and/or other legal deadlines might prevent you from being able to bring a case.
Stephen Jessup Jul 19, 2013 #8
Good Evening,
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease 5+ Years ago, and a year or so after I suffered from Depression, loss of appetite, interest in doing things, always worried about a flare up, having to use the restroom. I travel allot for work, and I do not mean a 2-3 hour flight, I travel to the Middle East, Europe and so on. Crohn’s has affected my daily life activities, I have hard times waking up in the morning with severe abdominal pain. I was put on medication, but after a few months my income dropped and could not afford my medication so had to stop, and it has been getting worse now, I spend more time at the ER than I do at home. Recently, a week ago, I had a flare up and I was sick all night to the point where I could not even go to work. The next day I went in to work, I had been demoted from my management position to a clerical position and my pay was dropped as well. I think there should be some justice in this system, I applied for SSI, Disability, government health care about 4 years ago, but was denied, I guess they said I was too young to go on disability, I’m 29. I don’t think age has anything to do with an illness, or how old you have to be to go on government aid. My social life is dead, this illness is getting bad, I was diagnosed with acute depression few years back as well. Any attorney who is able to assist with a case to collect disability or provide any sort of legal help to the right direction please feel free to contact me. I Live in Michigan.
Joe Haider Jul 18, 2013 #7
MJ,
I believe there may have been a typo in Greg’s response. It should read then “you should NOT claim unemployment.”
Stephen Jessup Jul 6, 2013 #6
I am confused by your response to Renee. You state claiming UI is an admission of ability to work, then say if claiming SSDI or disability she ought to file UI, thus invalidating her claim of disability? Did I miss something here?
MJ Jul 5, 2013 #5
Renee,
If you file for unemployment, then you are certifying that you are able to work. If you are seeking SSDI or disability benefits from your employer, then you should not claim unemployment. [edited as per the reply to MJ below]
Gregory Dell Apr 24, 2013 #4
Hi! Help… I have Chrohn’s disease and Celiac disease and collagenous colitis. That has stopped my life completely. I have tried to file for unemployment compensation benefits. They are fighting me tooth and nail. What should I do?
Renee Henderson Apr 23, 2013 #3
Laura,
Thank you for your feedback. You should not give up your fight against MetLife. We receive hundreds of request each month to help disability insurance clients, but in order to maintain a high level of service to each client we are forced to limit our caseload. We evaluate and review every potential claim and inform a potential client as to whether or not we can help. If we cannot help, then we are often able to refer a potential client to another disability attorney that may be able to help.
Gregory Dell Jun 14, 2012 #2
I watched all your videos, I think these attorneys know their stuff and do understand exactly what is happening with the exception of medicare doctors in this process and lack of funds to go to all the specialty doctors needed monthly.
I called your firm and because I get too little money each month your firm isn’t interested in the case. As well as I know everyone works for money. We the disabled have no money, the government and private companies (from employment) in combination is peanuts. But we do deserve justice too.
As you said MetLife is worth how much? And their firepower is good because they have so much money. Where does the little guy or disabled person stand in this world? We stand alone because we’re too poor to afford our rights to be upheld.
By the way, I have received LTD benefits for the past 16 years and because my doctor didn’t take proper notes, I get denied my money as the said doctor was found in violation of my HIPPA rights with the exact paperwork that was in my deial of benefits. The doctor also paid no penalty as it was his first supposed violation and the state of NY went to his office to train the staff of HIPPA rules regulation and violations. So the state agency screwed the disabled person and stepped out of their box to fix corporate America. I got my rights violated and proven to have been violated, the office got fixed, free of charge. Amazing.
Laura Jun 11, 2012 #1

Questions About Hiring Us

Do you work in my state?

Yes. We are a national disability insurance law firm that is available to represent you regardless of where you live in the United States. We have partner lawyers in every state and we have filed lawsuits in most federal courts nationwide. Our disability lawyers represent disability claimants at all stages of a claim for disability insurance benefits. There is nothing that our lawyers have not seen in the disability insurance world.

What are your fees?

Since we represent disability insurance claimants at different stages of a disability insurance claim we offer a variety of different fee options. We understand that claimants living on disability insurance benefits have a limited source of income; therefore we always try to work with the claimant to make our attorney fees as affordable as possible.

The three available fee options are a contingency fee agreement (no attorney fee or cost unless we make a recovery), hourly fee or fixed flat rate.

In every case we provide each client with a written fee agreement detailing the terms and conditions. We always offer a free initial phone consultation and we appreciate the opportunity to work with you in obtaining payment of your disability insurance benefits.

Do I have to come to your office to work with your law firm?

No. For purposes of efficiency and to reduce expenses for our clients we have found that 99% of our clients prefer to communicate via telephone, e-mail, fax, GoToMeeting.com sessions, or Skype. If you prefer an initial in-person meeting please let us know. A disability company will never require you to come to their office and similarly we are set up so that we handle your entire claim without the need for you to come to our office.

How can I contact you?

When you call us during normal business hours you will immediately speak with a disability attorney. We can be reached at 800-682-8331 or by email. Lawyer and staff must return all client calls same day. Client emails are usually replied to within the same business day and seem to be the preferred and most efficient method of communication for most clients.

Dell & Schaefer Client Reviews *****

Ravindra P.

I have been a client of Dell & Schaefer for the 6 months and they have already successfully taken my disability claim to approval. It is privilege to write this testimonial. I am a professional myself, a physician and to me these are some of the core strengths of Steve Jessup and his team.

Listening to the client: Attorneys at Dell & Schaefer really listen to you explain your special situation and undoubtedly every one of us has a special circumstance and specific wishes as to what we want. Most of the time attorneys and in general most professionals these days, will listen to you a couple of minutes and then file you away in a category or a bin and chalk out a plan for you in their mind and stop listening to you and start thinking about the next thing that they have to do. That is why these interactions are so often exasperating for the client.

As a physician I used to try and teach medical students that any well trained monkey can read a few books and do a particular thing in a particular situation, it is however extremely essential that you determine what the situation is and no one understands the situation better than your client or patient. I spoke to a couple of attorneys at D&S, initially with someone who took my call and then Steve who was assigned to me and it was impressive that they really tried to get what I was trying to convey, what my special and unique situation was (and whose isn’t?) and what I wanted.

Shock and Awe: At Dell & Schaefer they don’t go in halfway prepared. Their philosophy is to get well prepared and go in guns blazing. They will make you work on your mission until all anticipated difficulties have a contingency plan before even the adversary is intimated of the challenge. I believe it was Sun Tzu who said that the best battles are won before they are fought. Frequently you are a small David pitted against a Goliath adversary with deep pockets and a much larger time horizon. But you do have an advantage, that of time for preparation. The adversary does not know of the battle until you tell them and then the clock starts ticking. At Dell & Schaefer they make full use of your advantage by preparing your case with utmost thoroughness before the engagement.

Art of the possible: Legal action, just like life, is the art of the possible. I have dealt with 5 other attorneys in my career and only one of them apart from Dell & Schaefer understood this. A professional’s job is to tell you what the score is, what possibly can occur in the future and what measures can be taken to favorably change the future. And the last one is possibly the most vital. You don’t want your attorneys telling you all the time why things cannot be done, how laws are stacked against you, how global warming is melting the icecaps, how the oil is running out and how dogs sometimes eat homework assignments. You want them taxing their brains to see what can be done in best manner possible, so the future, which is not yet written, changes favorably for you. Attorneys at D&S get this and consciously incorporate it in their work ethic.

They say that there are four professionals in your life who should also be your friends. Doctor, Lawyer, Accountant and Banker. There is a deeper side to this sound bite that some people get and some don’t. I live at the other end of the country from where Dell & Schaefer work and play, but the world is small and getting smaller and perhaps someday I can add to my stock of friends.

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