The Hartford never sent me forms for my annual update, should I call them and request?
Actually no. You do not have to do The Hartford’s job for them. As a general rule, “Only give an insurance company what they ask for” applies here, and nothing should be voluntarily sent to any insurance company. Given the chaotic state The Hartford is in, just sit tight until they finally get around to requesting an update. No insurance company can deny a claim for not sending in what they never asked for.
My STD claim was denied because it was only approved until 3/31 and I received a letter yesterday my benefits are suspended. Shouldn’t they have notified me they needed an update before suspending benefits?
Absolutely.In fact, according to ERISA you are supposed to be notified of the status of your claim every 30-45 days. Not notifying you of what is needed is an unfair claims practice, but probably was omitted because of error, confusion and disorganization. Then, again we had 1st Qtr. profitability results at the end of March mixed in there as well, possible motivation for not extending benefits beyond 3/31. In any event, not sending you a letter asking for records is a mistake on their part that you will wind up paying for in delays of payment.
Will my insurance company accept the medical restrictions my physician just gave me?
Sometimes they will, mostly they will not unless their own internal physicians agree. It also depends on the quality of responses your physician gives and how complete and specific the restrictions are written. Some doctors are good at this, others are not. In the end, ERISA insurers have “discretionary authority” to decide on their own who is disabled and who isn’t.
