One of the most frequent mistakes IDI insureds make when applying for disability is deciding for themselves to stop work without the prior buy-in of a primary care physician. The offenders are usually physicians or lawyers who own their own practices and seem to think they can take themselves out on disability when they can’t work anymore. Some physicians hide their disabilities in order to keep their practice going, others just think it’s OK to stop working.
The claims process is very linear and straightforward. First, an employee begins to have difficulty at work, seeks medical assistance, and over time the condition worsens. When it is time to stop working, the physician AND patient decide on a date of disability, and the patient stops working. There is now a written medical history of treatment, and a documented date of disability. This is the correct way to position a medical disability with an IDI policy.
The wrong way is for a physician, for example, to keep running his medical practice, but having a tough time doing it. Suddenly, he decides not to take additional patients and stops working. Or, he stops doing certain procedures and spend less time at the clinic. He stops working for months then goes to his physicians and tries to convince him/her he is disabled. This is not the proper way to position a medical disability for IDI insureds, and the person who does this will have a much harder time throughout the process.
It’s really very easy. ONLY A PHYSICIAN CAN TAKE SOMEONE OUT OF WORK. The ERISA folks don’t have this problem because their employers keep track of physician “out of work slips” to keep track of FMLA and STD.
Unless the disability is caused by a catastrophic event, all insureds need to produce proof of a medical history related to the claimed disability anyway in the form of patient notes and perhaps objective evidence. It is far less credible to start a medical history AFTER one stops working.
Please remember that the proper way to begin a disability claim is to seek medical treatment, and have one or several physicians document you can no longer work. To begin a claim properly avoids having to carry your claim uphill, both ways.
