New York Life
New York Life thinks that just because my husband does not have active cancer he can work. What kind of knowledge does their medical staff have?
Reading about all these denials make me sick! My husband was recently denied AFTER getting his LTD for over a year. My husband is on SSDI already and was approved and given LTD from New York Life. You see, my husband has terminal cancer (prostate cancer that has gone to the lymph nodes). Because of the high doses of radiation he received when he was first diagnosed and injections, he now has full muscle and skeletal pain. Over time, this pain has worsen. He is on quite a lot of narcotics just to get to a pain level of 7. New York Life has said because he does not have “cancer activity” and can sit constantly, he is not disabled and can work. I wonder what kind of knowledge the New York Life medical staff has? The reason there is no cancer activity AT THIS POINT IN TIME, is because my husband keeps his testosterone down by wearing estrogen patches. Due to the cancer my husband has had MANY doctors because he has gone through many things, such as: two mastectomies, FOUR back surgeries due to a cyst that developed from the radiation (the first back surgery), and then three more because he developed staph in his back, 25 days of Tomotherapy, HDR (High Dose Radiation), and increasing strengths of medication for over 4 years. So, as you can imagine, there are many doctors he has seen since being diagnosed but he has a PRIMARY CARE physician who is the one that manages his pain and any things that come up, and they do because he as a compromised immune system. His primary has told New York Life at least 4 times that my husband is 100% disabled because of his compromised immune system and the high level of narcotics he takes. It seems that New York Life has pulled information from “a” sentence that is in a doctor’s report. His oncologist and the neurosurgeon both refuse to fill out New York Life's requests for medical information and refer them back to his primary care physician as he is the one who monitors my husband and his pain on an ongoing basis. I did not see any accounts on this page from terminal cancer patients. As you can imagine, this denial and cut off of monies has left us struggling and causing a lot of stress for my husband. We are going to fight it because we must and it is right, I just don’t know what this stress will do to my husband. Is there anything specific we should zone in on with regards to our appeal?
Reply
Doreen, when it comes to claims for disability stemming from Cancer, it is not uncommon for an insurance company to take the position that in the absence of “active” cancer there is no disability. What they fail to see, as is the case with your husband, is the fact that the aftermath of the treatment is often just as devastating as the cancer itself. Although New York Life may have had, in its opinion, enough to “deny” the claim, it doesn’t mean that they won’t be proven wrong on appeal. Please feel free to contact our office to discuss your husband’s claim and how we may be able to assist in the appeal process.
