Guardian

Guardian thinks people with lupus miraculously recover

Reviewed by Virginia Z on March 20th 2020   Verified Policyholder
I became disabled in 2018 (Lupus and Sjogren’s). I’m 54 and I worked over 30 years (for the government) before I became disabled. I received Guardian STD and then LTD through my company. I received my SSD on the first application. Yesterday I received a letter from Guardian stating I need to prove disability – complete new basic physical packet with medical history, work history, education, etc… to complete like the initial one years ago, by, get this, 14 April, or my LTD deposits will be “interrupted.” They have ALL of this information already – Lupus and Sjogren’s do not miraculously get better. In the middle of a Pandemic they suddenly forget my Lupus and Sjogren’s diagnosis by my doctor at National Jewish? They forget they have my medical and work history? They have year’s worth of tests and doctor’s diagnosis, reports and detailed notes – plus the SSD award specifics. I feel like they’re trying to mitigate their losses caused by the Pandemic. I can’t get an appt with my doctor before April. I see her every four months – NJ is a world class hospital and you schedule three months out, and I just saw her a month ago. She can easily send them her very detailed Drs notes from that appt and past visits but the intake physical paperwork they sent me to fill out is five pages long – they want everything from hearing, vision, heart testing, psychiatric evaluation, etc – all before mid April or my check “will be interrupted.” They have all of this. All of it already. I wonder how many other people got this same letter. It’s sickening that they do this. My LTD plan was for my occupation. Period. Not “any job.” I cannot afford for my LTD to be cut, but the main point is they are gaming the Pandemic. You’d have to be blind not to see it. I responded politely telling them this, but don’t expect a response, if any, until next week. For now I’m contacting my Congress Members and other state employees I’m familiar with – if they go through with this I’m contacting my local news (a producer is a friend of my partner’s) and hope it makes the national circuit. I see a potential class action suit after this Pandemic because I’m sure I was not the only one surprised by a letter like this. Given 30 days to prove disability again and get medical, psychological, vision, hearing, and heart testing by then. I’m disgusted by this. And guess what, after receiving this yesterday I wake up this morning with a full blown Lupus flare. Any recommendations?
Reply
Sent on March 20th 2020 by Attorney Jay Symonds

Virginia: This is a very unfortunate situation they’ve put you in. You should request in writing an extension of time to submit the information and documentation. You should complete and submit what you can. Normally this would be the time of the 24-month change in the definition of disability, but your comments suggest that would not be the case. Your Policy may have other limitations that the company if exploring that would apply to certain types of medical or mental health conditions and limit your benefits to a 24-month maximum pay period but you would need to review your Policy to confirm/rule this out. Yours seems like a complex situation so I suggest you contact our office and speak with one of the attorneys to address any additional specific questions you may have.