• Osteoarthritis Long Term Disability Claim

Osteoarthritis Disability Insurance Claim Help From Disability Lawyers

The severe pain associated with osteoarthritis prevents many Americans from working in their own occupation or any occupation. Osteoarthritis disability insurance claims are often an issue for disability insurance companies due to the degenerative nature of the condition. Disability companies wrongfully expect some kind of conclusive event to have occurred in order to justify paying a person that has stopped working due to osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is a chronic and degenerative condition and people suffer and continue to work for many years before they stop working. Our disability lawyers understand your medical condition and we know what the disability company needs to see in order to approve your claim. If the disability company refuses to act reasonably, then we will sue them and we know the legal standard that they must comply with. We try to do everything possible to avoid a lawsuit and make sure you continue to get paid every month.

Our disability insurance lawyers will work with your doctor(s) to make sure that the best medical evidence is obtained and presented to your disability carrier. People with osteoarthritis have good days and bad days. Insurance companies don’t believe in good days and will try to obtain video surveillance of you in order to prove that you can return to work. Our job is to protect your benefits and make sure the disability insurance company pays your claim. We know how the disability companies think and we are able to always keep you one step ahead of them. Contact us for a free consultation to discuss how we can assist you with your short or long term disability insurance claim. We assist claimants located anywhere in the USA.

A Record of Success with Osteoarthritis Disability Benefit Claims

Our disability insurance lawyers have years of experience assisting those who suffer from osteoarthritis. Read some of our resolved cases to see how we have helped people in your situation:

We welcome you to review hundreds of our client testimonials and resolved cases so that you can learn more about how we may be able to help you.

Resources About Osteoarthritis

For more information about osteoarthritis, visit the following links:

To learn about osteoarthritis charitable organization take a look at:

Visit this page later for new information about osteoarthritis benefits. We provide updates about new cases and laws relevant to anyone with osteoarthritis.

Recently Resolved Cases (14)

  1. After Appeal, Lincoln Overturns Denial of LTD benefits for Trucking Supervisor
  2. Cigna Again Reinstates Claim of Archdiocese of Baltimore Registered Nurse Thanks to Appeal by Dell & Schaefer
  3. After appeal filed by Attorney Jay Symonds, Sun Life overturned its previous denial of long term disability benefits for Florida ICU Nurse
  4. After it had previously overturned a denial after an initial Dell & Schaefer Appeal, Liberty denied our client’s claim again. After a new appeal, Liberty has now agreed to reinstate our client yet again.
  5. Liberty Mutual of NY Disability Benefit Denial Reversed After Two Denials In One Year
  6. Dell & Schaefer Successfully Appeals Denial of Benefits to IT Support Specialist
  7. Prudential Reinstates Disability Benefits To School Teacher
  8. After Two Appeals, Cigna Finally Sees the Light and Pays Disability Benefits
  9. Dell & Schaefer obtains settlement award for OB/GYN with Unum individual disability policy
  10. Aetna Denies Disability Benefits after 18 Months of Payment, but Dell & Schaefer wins ERISA Appeal
  11. $79,000 in long term disability insurance benefits is recovered for disabled teacher
  12. MetLife approves disability insurance benefits for OB/GYN suffering from multiple orthopedic conditions
  13. Disability carrier denies disability benefits to chiropractor after paying for 8 years, yet Attorneys Dell & Schaefer file lawsuit and obtain lump-sum buyout
  14. Attorneys Dell & Schaefer prove dentist is totally disabled and not residually disabled

Cases & Claim Tips (22)

  1. Court Orders Western & Southern Financial Group to Pay Short Term Disability Benefits 
  2. Long Term Disability Claims Due to Back Pain 
  3. Unum Disability Claim Dismissed For Failure To File a Timely Claim 
  4. Court Orders Aetna to Pay Disability Benefits when Plaintiff was Found Capable of Working 
  5. Unum Denies Disability Benefits to 53 Year Old Woman After Paying for 16 years  4
  6. Credibility Judgments Without IME Lead to Remand Back to Libery Life for Full and Fair Review in Kentucky ERISA Disability Lawsuit 
  7. Kirk & Blum/CECO Environmental Employee Files Lawsuit Against Lincoln Financial Group For Wrongful Termination Of Long-Term Disability Benefits  2
  8. CIGNA faces a lawsuit by American Homecare Supply Respiratory therapist for termination of disability benefits 
  9. CIGNA has three new lawsuits to deal with for unpaid disability benefits  17
  10. Life Insurance Company Of North America denies disability benefits and battles claimant for 4.5 years in Federal Court 
  11. 30 year veteran employee of 3M Company sues company and Sedgwick Insurance for disability benefit denial  1
  12. UNUM denies disability insurance benefits to disabled nurse with fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis  1
  13. UNUM sued by Ohio disability attorney for failure to pay disability insurance benefits to ex-nurse restricted to using a cane or motorized scooter to get around  1
  14. LINA and CIGNA need to listen to the Federal Courts and stop denying disability insurance claims for people disabled by fibromyalgia 
  15. CIGNA / LINA wrongfully relies upon surveillance video to deny long term disability insurance benefits  4
  16. Companion Life wrongfully relies on 22 minutes of video surveillance to deny disability insurance benefits 
  17. Hartford misleads disability insurance claimant’s doctor which results in benefit denial  4
  18. Court agrees with Unum’s denial of long term disability benefits to man suffering with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis (Part II)  2
  19. Unum relies on independent medical exam as basis for denying long-term disability benefits (Part I)  1
  20. HM Life and Broadspire wrongfully deny disability insurance benefits to a receptionist and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses claim denial 
  21. LINA (CIGNA) denies long-term disability benefits to yellowbook Account Executive 
  22. What is Complete Disablity? 

Comments (2)

  • Candace,

    Please contact our office to discuss your claim. When was the claim denied, and have you filed an appeal yet? Some policies indicate that the Regular Care of a Physician provision will not be applied if it is deemed that the treatment would not be deemed necessary. However, Guardian’s evaluation is probably that your claim is a “chronic pain” condition claim and would then apply standards of care as it relates to pain control.

    Stephen Jessup Jun 18, 2015  #2

  • I am at a loss as how to handle Guardian Insurance. I opened a STD claim in March, which they promptly paid for 2 months of the 13 month period. My plans were to then apply for the LTD. My Doctor deemed me unable to work last August due to progressive osteoarthritis (since 2005 on his records). I also had a discectomy performed in May 2009. Since that date I have been unable to fully recover and have worked up until 1/30/15- even after the Dr. told me to not work last August. I did not see the Doctor in person from August thru January and called for an appointment in January. The soonest I could get in was May 29th, 2015. I scheduled that date. I have each month since last August called the doctor’s office to get a pain prescription and let the staff know how I was doing- until my May appt. Guardian ins pulled the plug on my claim after eight weeks stating I was not under “regular and appropriate care”. The Doctor advised me last August that there was nothing that could be done for me other than “comfort” meds. He actually told me that future appointments were futile. I have for the past 6-7 years on my own gone thru upper body therapy, faithfully gone to a chiropractor, received weekly massages, perform do tai chi and swim at the local Y. My goal was to muddle through somehow to 65. I couldn’t tolerate the pain from setting at my desk anymore. I am a CEO of a FI. It is not a heavy labor job but a stressful desk job. When I had the discectomy in 2009 that Doctor also told me that nothing further could be done for my arthritis. How now do I handle an insurance company that doesn’t want to pay a claim but uses the “care” card as reasoning. To get a step ahead of them , knowing I would be filing the LTD, I applied for SSDI. Low and behold I am scheduled to see an IME in July. I had assumed I would be denied right out of the gate. If I do receive SSDI I would still like to see Guardian pay their portion. I have afforded this benefit to my entire staff for 30 years and feel that being treated this way is unjust to me but also to them. How do I proceed on this “regular and appropriate care” issue when two well respected Doctors in the Pittsburgh area say no further help is available to me.

    Candace Jun 17, 2015  #1

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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   *****

Pat (Florida)

My experience with Dell & Schaefer, especially attorney Cesar Gavidia and his staff was excellent. I contacted Dell & Schaefer when I needed help as my disability insurance carrier terminated my benefits at the 2 year mark of my disability. I spent about 2 months putting together what I thought may be a decent appeal of that decision. However, the further I got into the workings and gaining some understanding of how the appeals worked under ERISA, I realized there was a lot at risk and only had one shot at it. I sought advice from an immediate family member who is also an attorney and was advised “get a firm that specializes in this type of work, then get the best”. Hence my decision to chose Dell & Schaefer.

Upon acceptance of my case, I felt that I was the center of attention for Attorney Gavidia. I had already used up 1/3 of the 180 days allotted to file the appeal working on my own so we were in a bit of a time crunch. Hundreds of pages of medical records the detail of the termination of benefits, my disability policy and several other different documents were delivered to attorney Gavidia. In short order those documents were reviewed and our strategy of appeal was discussed and developed. Necessary appointments and evaluations were coordinated and our appeal was submitted before the 180 days had expired. At the 45 day mark my insurer requested a 45 day extension on the decision. I was advised by Mr Gavidia’s assistant Michal who reassured me that this happens in most appeals. At the 90 day mark we received a favorable decision on the appeal, benefits were reinstated and back pay was awarded, but the story was not over.

After the initial termination of benefits by my insurer, I was alienated and expressed my desire with attorney Gavidia to try and find an amicable separation for all parties. Attorney Gavidia tactfully used some facts and disputes of the initial claim to open conversation with the insurer’s attorneys. He developed a dialog proposing, although I remain totally disabled as defined by my plan, a lump sum buy out of my future monthly disability benefits. Attorney Gavidia was successful in reaching an agreement that was acceptable to all parties and made sure that I had the final say on acceptance or not.

Thus, working with Dell & Schaefer I had my benefits, which had been terminated, restored, received back-pay for benefits that were withheld and missed, and successfully and satisfactorily “divorced” from my insurance provider in the form of a lump sum buy-out of my future disability benefits.

***** 5 stars based on 202 reviews

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