Long Term Disability Insurance

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Shatzie

Active member
Joined
Nov 12, 2007
Messages
86
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
02/2008
Country
US
State
OK
City
Tulsa
Even though I am (hopefully) no where near quitting teaching, I have been looking into my benefits from the school district and found that I DO have district-paid long-term disability insurance through, I think, Met-Life. But I am not that fluent in insurance-ese and haven't contacted anyone from the Benefits Office. I know that the coverage is 60% of my salary and has a maximum of $2500 a month (mine would be more like $1800). It may be simple to you, but what, in plain English, does this mean:

+Elimination Period: 90 days

+Integrated with other insurance plans

For those of you who have collected your long-term disability, is there anything I should know now, or plan for?
 
Elimination period is the time you have to be off work due to disability before your plan starts to pay the benefit. So save up enough to cover your expenses for 3 months or maybe you have accrued sick and vacation days that will pay you during that time.

Integrated with other insurance plans means that if you will get disability benefits from another source, including Social Security Disability, your plan will reduce what they pay you. Some plans reduce dollar for dollar. I'm still working but have looked into mine. It will pay $2400 per month but 5 or 6 months after I'm off work and begin receiving Social Security Disability of $1600/ mo, the insurance will cut back to $800 per month.

I hope you are able to continue working for a long time but teaching sure is a tough job. I know I've seen your posts recently but don't recall your situation. Do you have bulbar or limb onset? How are you doing now? What's your ALSFRS? Are you taking rilutek or lithium? What's your family support system? Sorry if I seem nosy. Don't feel compelled to answer.

I was diagnosed in July 07, bulbar onset. I'm still able to walk and drive. My speech is getting pretty poor. Other than that the things that bother me most are how hard it is to do everyday little things. I hate going to the store because getting money out of my purse is so darn hard. Or turning the key on to start the car. Or washing my hair. Those things take forever. I feel guilty complaining about these little things when there are amazing positive people here who can't move but go on without gripping. I think we all should be allowed to grieve as we lose successive pieces of ourselves.

I will keep you in my prayers as you go forward in this unbelievable illness.
 
ilgal:

My FRS is 42. Mine is bulbar onset, too, but my speech is still at the "like I've had one drink" stage (I could never hold my liquor). My swallowing is slightly more difficult than normal and I have had a few times that I have mildly choked on fluid. Chewing is no problem, except for the really good bagels that I used to get. The last time I ate half of one I had to work so hard I bit my tongue and the inside of my mouth twice. I have slight atrophy in my left ankle and shin. My foot will drag while I'm walking 10-12 times a day, but besides that I'm pretty sure footed. I did fall once in early November, but I had flip-flops on and I've now sworn off of them. Since the beginning of the year I have noticed that I am putting forth more effort to do the same things. I am having slight difficulty with coins, keys, and turning pages, especially slick ones like magazines. Right now my symptoms are more an inconvenience than a disability.
 
Shatzie,
before getting SSI, make an appt with a good financial attorney...it will be worth your while and money.
 
Any Short Term Disability Plan?

Shatzie,

My employer-paid LTD plan has an elimination period of 180 days.

But we also have a Short-Term-Disability plan that covers these first 180 days. So basically, this results in continuous coverage, just switching from one insurance carrier to another.

You should check to see if you have something similar.

-Tom
 
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