Long-term disability insurance is often offered as part of an employee benefit package. Some people purchase long-term disability coverage directly from insurance companies or through an insurance broker. Long-term disability policies sponsored by a private employer are governed by a federal law called the Employee Retirment Income Security Act (“ERISA”). If a policy issued in Louisiana is purchased by an …
In a recent case, Trahan v. United of Omaha Life Insurance Co., No. 2:21-CV-02281, 2022 WL 710436 (W.D. La. Mar. 9, 2022), the plaintiff alleged that he was disabled due to high blood pressure and anxiety. He filed a claim with his employer’s disability insurer only to have the claim denied. The plaintiff alleged that his high blood pressure and …
Published by The Pellegrin Firm May 18, 2021
In a recent decision, a federal district court in Kentucky found that United of Omaha erred in denying short-term disability (“STD”) and long-term disability (“LTD”) benefits to a worker disabled by Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain, and disk degeneration.
Published by The Pellegrin Firm March 24, 2021
In a recent decision, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision ruling that Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company was wrong in finding that a man disabled due to prostate cancer was not covered by his employer’s group policy when he became disabled.
Published by The Pellegrin Firm December 26, 2020
A federal district court in California recently found that Aetna erred in denying long-term disability benefits to a Software Management Engineer employed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a federally funded research facility owned by NASA and managed by California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Published by The Pellegrin Firm June 8, 2020
On May 20, 2020, Judge Eldon Fallon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans ruled in a case challenging the denial of short-term and long-term disability benefits.
Published by The Pellegrin Firm, L.L.C. March 10, 2020
All too often, long-term disability insurers look for reasons to deny payment to disabled insureds. This is just as true of insureds with addiction and mental health issues as it is of insureds with physical limitations. In a recent case out of Missouri, a federal judge rejected an insurance company’s denial of benefits to an impaired nurse anesthetist.
Published by The Pellegrin Firm February 5, 2020
In a recent decision, a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit discussed the meaning of a “regular care” provision in a long-term disability policy.
Published by The Pellegrin Firm January 29, 2020
In a ruling dated January 13, 2020, Judge Sarah Vance of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana sided with a claimant in a dispute over the applicability of a pre-existing condition exclusion to a long-term disability claim.
Published by The Pellegrin Firm January 5, 2019
In a ruling dated December 27, 2019, a federal district court judge affirmed The Hartford’s decision to offset a disabled Atlas Air, Inc. employee’s long-term disability benefits with Social Security Retirement benefits.