If you have long-term disability (LTD) or long-term care (LTC) insurance, your policy will have what is known as an elimination period associated with it. Understanding what elimination periods for LTD and LTC policies are and how they can impact your current or future claims can be important.
Here’s what you should know about elimination periods for LTD and LTC policies:
- What are elimination periods?Elimination periods for LTD and LTC policies basically specify the number of days that an insured person is eligible to receive benefits but during which no benefits are paid.In this way, elimination periods can be like waiting or qualifying periods, similar to how deductibles work for other types of insurance policies. Generally, once elimination periods for LTD and LTC policies have been satisfied, benefits should be paid out on a given legitimate claim.
- Why are they important?While elimination periods for LTC policies can be important for a number of different reasons, one of the primary reasons that they are so significant is that they can impact when people start receiving benefits.For an LTD policy, the elimination period is usually 30, 60 or 90 days from your last day of work. You will have to prove you are disabled throughout this time period even though long-term disability benefits do not commence until the end of the elimination period. Short-term disability (STD) coverage is designed to fill this gap in payments caused by the elimination period. Not all employers offer STD coverage however.If you have access to STD coverage, then, if disabled, you will be entitled to receive disability benefits during the STD coverage period, while you await your entitlement to LTD benefits. Even though the definitions of “disabled” or “disability” are nearly identical for STD coverage and LTD benefits, we often see the claim administrator grant STD but then deny LTD following the elimination period (and, oftentimes, that is because the STD benefit is actually paid by the employer under a self-insured situation but the LTD payments would become the responsibility of the insurance company which insures the LTD payment).How elimination periods for LTC policies define what constitutes a “day” can be critical and is an issue that may arise. In some cases, these policies may contain ambiguous or no language regarding what a “day” is and/or how or when certain treatment may qualify. When this is the case, an experienced LTC insurance attorney may be able to argue that even as little as an hour or so of care “a day” should be counted as a “day” against elimination periods for LTD and LTC policies.
- How does this matter to me – How all of this matters to you will depend on the provisions of your LTD policy or your LTC policy. If you are unfamiliar with this aspect of your LTC policy and would like a professional to review it for you, you are encouraged to contact trusted Denver Long-Term disability and Long-Term Care Insurance Attorney Shawn E. McDermott.
Denver, Colorado LTD and LTC Insurance Lawyers at McDermott Law, LLC
Has your long-term disability or long-term care claim been denied by an insurer? If so, you can turn to Denver LTC Insurance Attorney Shawn E. McDermott for experience in standing up to insurers and appealing or even litigating your claim denial. Dedicated and experienced, Shawn McDermott has a record of success when it comes to helping people fight denied insurance claims, navigate the complexities of the legal system, stand up to insurers and ultimately obtain the benefits they need and deserve.
To learn more about how the long-term care denial and long-term disability attorneys at McDermott Law, LLC can help you, set up a complimentary consult with our office today by calling us at 720-773-5045 or by emailing us using the contact form on this screen.
From our offices in Denver, we provide the highest quality legal services to disabled people throughout the state of Colorado, the surrounding states and nationwide.
