Mr. Z was employed by the public works department of a local municipality. Initially, his LTD insurer approved and paid his claim for LTD insurance benefits finding he was Totally Disabled. After paying benefits for 24 months, the Insurance Company denied Mr. Z’s claim “because there is no medical evidence…
SMDA partner Patrick Derkacz recently attended the America Conference Institute’s Long Term Disability Insurance Seminar in New York City. The two day conference was attended by some of the top practitioners in the Long Term Disability Insurance Arena. The conference agenda included many cutting edge topics including: Discovery Scope &…
Four Michigan Supreme Court Justices (Young, Markman, Kelly and Zahra) issued a decision changing 30 years of No-Fault Insurance law finding that automobile insurance companies no longer need pay No-Fault benefits to a person who is injured while closing their car door. In Frasier v Allstate, the claimant, Mona Lisa…
Our client last worked as a RN at a local hospital when she developed significant orthopedic problems following hip replacement surgery. She filed a claim for LTD benefits with the insurance company who provided group disability insurance through her employer, Oakwood Hospital. The insurer paid her disability claim for the…
According to a CDA press release disability companies paid out more than 8 billion dollars in disability insurance payments in 2010. This included more than 139,000 new disability claim approvals, a small increase over the previous year’s numbers. Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue–such as arthritis, spine disorders…
We recently received notice that another administrative appeal of the denial of a client’s LTD claim has been successful. When a claim for LTD benefits is denied, pursuant to the ERISA regulations the claimant must file an administrative appeal of the denial decision with the entity that denied the claim,…
SMDA had the opportunity to represent a registered nurse who stopped working in the Emergency Department after two level cervical disc fusion surgery. Several months after the surgery the LTD insurer terminated her benefits when it determined “that the medical on file does not appear to support any significant functional…
It has been quite awhile since I last posted a blog. I have not had the time to post because while I was away I tried several cases. In addition to handling Long Term Disability cases our firm also handles various other types of matters including automobile accident insurance claims.…
Michigan Lawyers Weekly recently published an article “Long term Disability Insurance and ERISA” written by SMDA Partner, Patrick Derkacz. Following is an excerpt from the article. THE SET-UP So your client got sick or hurt and hasn’t been able to work for months. They applied for LTD benefits when their…
A federal Court Judge recently ordered a Long Term Disability Insurance Plan to pay all of Plaintiff’s (our client) attorney fees. As a result the claimant got to keep all of his LTD benefits. In Deloach v The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company LTD plan, the Honorable George Steeh…