sgilbert,
My husband applied for long term disability through his workplace. Policies vary and some companies do not offer this type of insurance at all. Assuming that your father's workplace does offer the LTD policy, there most likely will be a waiting period that is required before payments would begin. (His doc would need to give him the records to give the insurance company along with a letter explaining diagnosed -trust me- they will approve the disability.) At the same time your father would need to apply for Social Security Disability. With a diagnosed of ALS the SS case manager is supposed to automatically approve the disability, as ALS is described as TERI (terminal) in the SS rules and regs. Even though he would be approved he would still most likely have to wait 6 months for payments to begin. Medicare would also be approved and would start in 5 months. Reading various forums regarding disability, I see that the start of payments seem to vary from state to state (and probably depend on the case manager). Anyway, your father should be approved for SSDI/Medicare within 30 days of application.
Medicare will be better in the long run probably than his group insurance policy. For example, my husband had 4 rxs filled yesterday and the grand total was $4.66.
Also, if your dad isn't aware of this, the MDA can be helpful in purchasing a power wheelchair and the ALSA has a loaner closet with equipment that your dad won't have to pay for.
Please let us know how you and your family is doing. The paperwork that a PALS has to go through to just survive is very daunting. So please feel free to ask any more questions you may have, as there are plenty of people here with experience.
Very sorry for dad's diagnosed.