Employment and Disability Benefits

Employment while receiving disability benefits sounds like a conflicting statement, doesn’t it?  However, many people go out of work and start receiving disability benefits and expect or hope to return to their job as quickly as possible.  Not only is the suffering from a disabling condition something that no one wishes for, but the desire to work and earn a living is important to a lot of people.  There’s also the benefit of health insurance and other employee benefits that may be lost if you lose your job.   Does an employer have to hold my job while I’m out
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Disability Benefits Approved in Spring Hill, Florida

Cremeens Law Group PLLC has successfully had another client approved in Spring Hill, Florida for disability insurance benefits. A client came to us suffering from medical conditions including degenerative joint disease, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, migraines, and microcytic anemia. CIGNA denied her claim based on their reviewing physician’s opinion that “pain is associated with fibromyalgia and exercise is encouraged to help reduce the pain.  Staying off work is not the standard of care for fibromyalgia” but then went on to state that the client worked in a sedentary occupation and the restrictions and limitations wouldn’t preclude her from being able
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Long-Term Disability Denial

WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH A DENIAL LETTER FROM A LONG-TERM DISABILITY INSURANCE COMPANY? You may be wondering what you should do if you find yourself in the situation where you have a long-term disability policy and have reached a point where you need to file a claim, only to have the insurance company give a denial on your claim. But what should you do next? And what’s this disability insurance thing all about? What is a disability insurance policy and what is it for? Disability insurance policies are most often seen as an employee benefit that is offered as
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Benefits of Working With Cremeens Law Group PLLC

Some Benefits of Working with Cremeens Law Group PLLC   When you call a business, there are certain things you appreciate as a customer or client, like avoiding unnecessary frustration – particularly when your issue is being unable to work due to a medical disability compounded with a wrongful denial of disability insurance benefits.  This is why working with Cremeens Law Group PLLC can be one less thing to worry about when hiring a law firm for your disability insurance case.   At Cremeens Law Group PLLC, the people who answer the phones are the same people working on your
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Medical Record Ping-Pong

Have you ever played a game of ping-pong? The game where you hit the ball back and forth? A somewhat frustrating development in the world of disability insurance appeals has emerged due to the recent revision of the federal regulation implementing ERISA, the federal law that governs most long-term disability claims, 29 CFR § 2560.503-1. The revision requires a disability insurer that denies long-term disability benefits to provide a copy of the medical evidence, on which the denial was based, to the insured for a response before the insurance company renders a final decision. While this may sound like a
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2021 Long Term Disability

Do you need benefits from a 2021 Long Term Disability policy?  Were you receiving short-term disability from a disability insurance company in 2020?  Were you expecting your claim to transition from short term to long term at the end of your short-term disability period, only to find that the insurance company doesn’t find you incapable of working? If you have a denial letter on your long-term disability insurance claim, the insurance company will tell you that you can appeal the denial.  This isn’t something to rush in to.  Before you write a short, medically unsupported letter, you may want to
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Return To Work Ultimatum

Return To Work Ultimatum People go out of work for any number of reasons: disabling medical conditions, family crises, COVID-19, and other leaves of absence.  However, sometimes your employer issues an ultimatum: return to work  or lose your job. At this point, a consultation with an attorney can often prove valuable.  If you are medically unable to return to work and your employer insists that you return to work or lose your job, the initial question is whether your employer is covered by the Family Medical Leave Act and whether it applies to your situation.  The next question is whether
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HAVE YOU MISSED A RECENT ERISA FILING DEADLINE?

COVID-19 Deadline Extension COVID-19 has been a dark cloud in 2020, but for ERISA disability insurance claimants, there is a bright silver lining: A new federal rule provides that ERISA disability insurance filing deadlines which occur after March 1, 2020 are suspended during the “outbreak period” until 60 days after the COVID-19 National Emergency ends.  That means if your ERISA disability claim or appeal was due after March 1, 2020 and you missed the deadline (your claim or appeal was due in March 2020, April 2020, June 2020 and so on), it is still timely as of the date of
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Administrative Exhaustion

ADMINISTRATIVE EXHAUSTION If you see the words “administrative exhaustion” or “you have exhausted your administrative remedies” at the end of a letter from a disability insurance company you may wonder what this means.  Disability insurance polices governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) require that a disability insurance claimant seeking to bring a lawsuit under the ERISA statute complete all necessary appeals with the ERISA administrator before filing suit.  ERISA governs employee benefit plan litigation, meaning benefits workers obtain as a result of working for an employer, with exceptions for most government and church plan employees. 
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TOTAL AND PERMANENT DISABILITY TAX EXEMPTION

Helpful Information For Our Disabled Clients Florida residents who own a home and are totally and permanently disabled may be eligible for a total permanent disability tax exemption.  Visit the Florida Department of Revenue’s website and print out form DR-416 for your doctor to complete.  Once complete, retain the original for yourself, and either call or go to the Property Appraiser website for the county you live in to find the instructions for the process on submitting a copy of your DR-416 form. Please note that a certification from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or Social Security Administration
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