Insurance agent themselves vouchsafe for own occupation disability policy

On this site managed by an insurance agent, it is mentioned that "My personal belief is that one cannot go wrong when they buy a Non-Cancellable, own-occupation disability insurance policy."
We agree. A private, non cancellable, own occupation disability insurance policy is probably the best (and if you put things in perspective - the only way) to have a shot at having reliable coverage. Group insurance policies are dangerous because they provide the employees with a false sense of security. In some ways, if the employee knows that she does not have a disability policy, she will think twice before making major financial decisions. However, with the 'security' of the ERISA policy, she may tend towards making risky decision based on her hope that the policy will cover her if she is disabled. That leads to a very unfortunate and complex situation in the event of disability (loss of home, kids pulled out from college, no money for medical treatment etc etc). We see this routinely with disability claimants denied disability.

ABC news coverage of Cigna

After exposing Hartford denial of claims based on twisted logic, ABC details the story of disability insurance claimants from Cigna
"They did agree to a non-recorded phone call with their chief medical officer and gave us a written statement which said Cigna pays 90 percent of their claims and that a majority of their clients are satisfied."

We wonder how can one verify this claim. Are these STD or LTD claims or both? What percentage of them is ERISA and what percentage private?

"Cigna wouldn't talk to us about Kristoff's case, but the insurance trade group, America's Health Insurance Plans, said cases like hers were the exception, not the rule."

If so, then why is the insurance industry not willing to come forward and disclose the statistics of their rate of denial (particularly for group insurance policies ) on paper to their potential customers. Surely, that is a very important way that a customer can evaluate if spending her money on disability insurance is worth it.

Disability claim verdicts against Hartford

Info here

View from the other end of the spectrum . Disabled people should be able to work

This is a good article    written by Peter. R. Osagz.. The argument is well presented. What is not clear is who is going to make the workplace more accommodating for disabled workers. We have seen instances of disabled workers contacting their insurance companies for help in trying out some kind of gadgets that will enable them to work in some way. The companies responded by cutting off benefits claiming that the worker is fully able to return to work.


This is an issue which , if done right, can help increase profits for the insurance company and help the disabled worker contribute to the economy.

Adopting de novo standard of review of insurance denial still a far cry?

The standard of review adopted by a court in reviewing the decisions made by the insurance company or lower court is critical to the outcome of the case. Unfortunately, disability insurance companies frequently insert a clause in the policy document that allows the court to adopt a review that is most favorable to the insurance company. Potential customers should at least ensure that the policy document allows the courts to have, as far as  possible, an unbiased standard of review.
For laypersons, more information about the standard of review here.

Discovery: CIGNA forced to allow discovery after Glenn

Cigna attempts to block discovery but loses. It is interesting that some physicians seem to be repeatedly employed by multiple insurance companies. They always seem to concur that the claim is denied. Now why would that happen?

Full details here

Senator Max Baucus takes cognizance of the inequity in ERISA disabiliy insurance

Full story here.
You can use websites like www.congress.org to send a mail to the lawmakers representing your area.  As mentioned earlier in the blog, sweeping changes to legislation are a difficult task given the lobbying dollars and the reach of  the insurance companies. Let us at least take baby steps by requesting the law makers to "require insurance companies to make full disclosure about the statistics of their approval / denial rates to their potential customers in the policy document"

Feedback from readers of this blog is welcome.