Thank you for considering Disability Claims Solutions, Inc. as a future partner with you in the management of your private disability claim. I am honored you arrived at Lindanee’s Blog looking for additional information; I am also confident I will be able to assist you with your disability claim.
I sincerely hope the information on Lindanee’s Blog will be helpful to you as you prepare to become a part of a very complex and often frustrating insurance disability claim process. If, after reading the information contained here you have questions about your claim(s), please feel free to contact me by phone or email to discuss your individual case. I am here to help.
DCS, Inc. offers the following fee-based consulting and administrative services to insureds:
- Consultation on how to complete the initial disability application forms and monthly updates requested by insurers.
- Helpful strategies and timelines during the initial application process to assist you in forwarding a complete, thorough and successful claim.
- Forwarding of communications to the disability insurer on your behalf and sharing effective and successful ways of communicating with your insurer.
- Administrative assistance with the completion of on-going paperwork and medical patient records.
- Help you determine what specific medical information is important to your claim as well as how best to present information from your treating physicians to your insurer(s).
- Administrative management of EFTs, change of address, changes in status and work accommodations and other information gathering tasks.
- Assistance provided to primary care physicians upon request to ensure accuracy of medical restrictions and limitations reported to the insurance company.
- Employer contact as appropriate to assist you with FMLA paperwork and ensure job and benefit qualification and protection.
- Assistance provided for return to work status, employer work accommodations, sick leave, salary continuation and other disability initial application tasks.
- Complete disability policy(ies) review to help you understand the coverage you currently have.
- Assistance, direction and consulting provided for the management of IMEs, any occupation investigations, field representative visits, internal medical reviews and patient record requests.
- Counseling and assistance provided to insureds submitting both ERISA and non-ERISA appeals.
Disability claim consulting and social security disability counseling.
- Expert disability claims professional experience with excellent results.
- Consulting services provided to insureds with different insurers for more than one policy.
- Claims consulting expertise in the areas of Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, MS, RSD, Lyme Disease, Lupus, Chemical Sensitivity, and Mental Health claims.
- Specialty areas of services include Dentists, Physicians, Attorneys and other executive professionals with Individual Disability Income and Business Overhead policies.
In addition, I work with and for attorneys in many different ways including consulting, providing file reviews and reports and engaging in case management under letters of authority from attorneys already working on a case. I have a great deal of professional claims management expertise to share with attorneys who choose to engage in litigation on behalf of their own clients or those referred by DCS, Inc.
How We Provide You with Services
Disability Claims Solutions, Inc. is owned and operated by Linda E. Nee, BA, HIA, DIA, DHP who is a non-attorney Maine licensed Life & Health Consultant and NH Accident Life & Health Producer. I have over 15 years total disability claims experience and both as an experienced claims specialist and independent consultant.
Disability Claims Solutions, Inc. receives at least sixty percent of referrals from physician offices, attorneys and prior clients. I’ve also written many informational brochures that will be provided to you along the way to help prepare for Independent Medical Evaluations, Any Occupation Investigations, Field Representative Visits and many other usual and customary claims activities.
As a consultant I do not provide insureds and claimants with legal advice. As a result DCS, Inc. maintains a list of attorneys who have successful experience in ERISA and “bad faith litigation” which we refer clients to on a regular basis if necessary. In order to meet our referral criteria, attorneys must also demonstrate a fair and equitable fee structure for actual services performed.
The Help You Need During the Claims Process
Professional Consultants such as Linda Nee partner with the insured as an administrative guide through the complicated disability claims process. It is now generally accepted the sooner insureds and claimants retain the services of a Disability Claims Consultant, the better chances are of receiving all of the contractual benefits you are entitled to.
It is very comforting to have someone on your side who knows the territory of complex paper bureaucracies, voluminous information gathering requests, and medical requirements and timelines. I can help you through the disability claims process and void those often costly mistakes and misconceptions which may lead to a claim denial.
Applications for disability benefits can be a very scary and complicated process for someone unfamiliar with their own individual disability income policy or employer benefit package. It is not unusual for Human Resource representatives to be as unfamiliar with benefits their employees are entitled to as the employees themselves.
I will also help you in the following ways:
- Explain to you what to expect as you move through the disability process.
- Prepare a timetable and list of tasks to be performed such as obtaining patient notes, signing Claimant Statements, and providing earnings records.
- Explain what your disability insurer is looking for in terms of “proof of claim” and assist in requesting patient notes for submission to the insurer.
- Provide guidance and administrative assistance in completing the necessary paperwork as you move through the process from month to month.
- Remain available and actively involved by answering questions and assisting you with problems which often arise as the insurance company periodically investigates the claim.
- Provide reassurance that you are doing the right things, at the right time, in an appropriate manner thus avoiding pitfalls and red flags in the claim review process.
- Help you control your stress levels and manage the overwhelming fear, frustration, and anguish one often feels when dependent on an insurance company for financial support.
Disability insurers have at their disposal a wealth of resources and legal defenses for the purpose of terminating benefits. Disability Claims Solutions, Inc. also has other experts available to assist you with the management of your claim such as vocational rehabilitation counselors, private investigators, CPAs, plaintiff IME physicians, attorneys, professional medical records reviewers, and many others who can provide documentation when you need it.
Leaving Work on Disability
Leaving work because of a medical disability can have a tremendous emotional impact on anyone. In fact, making the transition from working in a chosen career field to total or partial disability is a major life event that deprives individuals of their personal empowerment with family, friends, and peers. We live in a culture of “work ethic” and paying our own way. Unfortunately, we often define who we are by what we do for a living.
Combined with ill-health, and the fear of not being able to work, messages communicated to you by friends, family, and society about what disability status really means can hurt:
- You are weak and needy and have given up; you are a quitter.
- You no longer have any personal value or can contribute to your family or community.
- You are a malingerer looking to obtain money from an insurance company for secondary gain.
- You have surrendered to your disease and are over-exaggerating your symptoms.
- You’re just lazy and do not want to work.
These and other messages communicated by our culture and society severely impact those who must stop working due to illness. I can help provide you with encouragement and the confidence you need to maintain control of your claim and the claim process.
Most insureds who eventually go out on disability have already experienced difficulty working at their jobs, or staying at work on a sustainable or consistent basis. After a period of time, exhausted and emotionally tired, most people stop working because they have reached a point when working is no longer a medical option.
DCS, Inc. provides insureds with a workable plan of disability designed to fulfill the employer’s FMLA requirements as well as obtaining the needed medical certification required for short-term and long-term disability. Given the new changes in January 2009 to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), it is extremely important to follow employer guidelines for taking medical leave and making application for disability. I can provide you with that assistance.
Working with Physicians
DCS, Inc. maintains excellent relationships with your physicians who often contact DCS, Inc. to provide their offices and managerial staff with administrative services relative to your claim. The insured receives the benefit of teamwork from physicians, employers, and their disability claim professional.
Who to Contact
Again, I thank you for your interest in retaining DCS, Inc. to assist you with your disability claim(s) and welcome you to give me a call or email with your questions.
You may contact me at:
Telephone: (207) 793-4593
Fax: (207) 793-2006
Website: http://www.disabilityclaimssolutions.com
Email: lindanee@metrocast.net
I am happy to discuss the specifics of your disability claim and look forward to working with you in the future. You do not need to go through the disability claims application or review process alone. I am here to help you.
hello: been collecting unum ltd since jul 10, and today received ltr basically tellimg me that i am nearing my 24 months, and they “have the right to send me to their md” etc. i believe this is the beginning of the end! diagnosed with ms 2009. effecting me mentally, as opposed to physically. feel like i am wilting fast.
1. do you take on clients in this stage of proceedings?
2. if so, what are your success rates?
3. what are your fees?
4. is there something i should be doing right now to “protect” myself from unum?
5. am i contacting you prematurely? should i wait until after they have “given me the boot’?
my neurologist said unum and their doctors have been calling his office continually. to date, he has not spoken to any of them.
any advice? would love to hear from you. thanks so much for your time.
Please feel free to contact me and I will be happy to explain my consulting services and fees to you. The “change in defintion” at 24 months should be managed. I’m happy to speak to you on the phone. My contact information is located in a tab at the top of Lindanee’s Blog home page.
Hi Linda ,
Your pages and insights are very enlightening .
As with many others here I am receiving a lump payment from
SSDI along with my son . WE have been duped by the repayment
from Mutual of Omaha with repayment of both my son and myself.
I plan on having them keep the difference of $700.00 per month
which they would owe me after my SSDI payment as too with us they cannot
guarantee any payment after the 24 month . I think this a fair deal of
repayment and I guess my question would be is have you ever heard
of Mutual of Omaha working with others like myself with such repayment
plan ? .My policy dictates payments are to be paid until 2024
Thank you
Dave
All group disability insurers make “deals” to enable repayments. However, I would caution you though that no policy guarantees length of time payments are to be received. Any disability insurer can deny benefits at any time and for any reason.
Ok so if refuse to send in the lump payment to insurnace company and then terminate my policy for whatever will they try to seize my ssdi , house or property ?
Thank you
Dave
If you refuse to repay by lump sum the insurer will automatically reduce your benefit to $0 to begin recovering the overpayment. The Hartford will also report the matter to a collection agency although technically the claimant IS repaying. Insurance companies do not terminate benefits for failure to repay SSDI overpayments – there is no contractual authority to do that. Once the overpayment is recaptured, benefits will begin again. Second, in order for Unum or any other insurance company to “seize property” there would need to be a court order. Retaining an attorney to “negotiate” on your behalf is the best thing to do when continually pushed by collection agencies for overpayments. Insurers can’t “seize”, restrict or take property of a spouse.
In addition, no insurance company can direct what the Social Security Administration can do. Unum, for example, cannot “tell” SSA to not pay you. SSA is an agency of the federal government and no insurance company can influence their decisions or tell them what to do – even Unum.
Claimants have a tendency to go overboard with fear on this issue forgetting we still live in a country of laws which protect private property and Unum isn’t God after all.
Linda-you are so right about Unum not being God-but they sure are Judas! Taking a person’s life for a few gold coins.
Hello Linda, Your web-site is enlightening. Please advise – if you are able to assist me. This is my situation: I am currently being paid by Unum since 2006, but I’m starting to feel the need to protect and/or educate myself from the future potential of “Unum’s way of handle claims after they’ve been paying benefits”. I am feeling pressured by Unum. Today I just received a call from Unum’s representative and now I’m concerned because the representative told me that my claim has been reviewed by their physician and they will be referring it to Unum’s 2nd physician because they don’t feel that I should be off work. My claim is fibromyalgia/myofacial pain syndrome. My doctor has sent statements and reports to support his diagnosis and my condition; however, Unum continues to pressure my doctor and me. I am really stressing out over this issue. Before I go any further is there assistance for someone like me…The bottom line is after my conversation with Unum’s representative today, I was left with the impression that whatever this 2nd doctor decides will determine their decision) inspite of what my treating doctor has consistently reported…(?).
Please contact me by phone to discuss.
Linda,
My companies policy allows 24 months off of work for a mental health condition. My benefits exhaust on Oct. 31, 2012. My adjuster from Unum asked if I would like to apply for SSDI. I advised that I did not want to but he could send the information and I would look at it. Within a few days I received a letter from Unum’s attorney advising I was cooperating with him as he could not reach me to start my claim, another adjuster trying to reach me to start the SSDI process. I advised both of them that I told my original adjuster that I was going to think about it. Today I received a letter from my original adjuster advising that in our original conversation that I WOULD accept Genex assistance in applying for SSDI benefits and that they are “asking me” to begin the process and provide Unum with a copy of the notification from the SS Admin that they have received my SSDI benefit application within 30 days. If I refuse they are going to terminate my benefits. If I apply I will run into the overpayment situation. My medical provider feels that I will be ready to return to work by November but it looks like Unum is going to control that financially. What, if anything, can I do?
Unum pushes claimants to apply for SS disability even when they do not meet the definition of “total disability” for SSDI. I was actually an expert in a qui tam case (which was eventually won) involving Unum’s actions which cost the US government around 4 million dollars. Bottom line, you do not meet the definition of disability for SSDI and you and your doctor can document that. All you need to do is write (not phone) a letter to Unum letting it know your doctor is recommending a return to work in November and you do not meet the definition of disability for SSDI. Do not agree to file for SSDI, and if Unum persists tell them you will contact your Congressional Senator and let him/her know Unum is forcing you to apply for benefits when can possibly return to work. Do not speak with GENEX in any case. Unum is attempting to force you to apply for benefits they know you won’t qualify for. Stop this practice in its tracks.
The situation detailed above just proves once again that Unum employees lie and continue unfair claims practices. I am so glad that this claimant found your blog.
Thank you Linda. I feel prepared to deal with this situation head on now because of your help. I will keep everyone posted on the outcome.
Hi I called earlier, and receive both SSD and Unum LTD payments. I had been told one does not impact the other, but now I am wondering if that is the case at all. This is just one of the many concerns I have… The is plenty of information on the site, a wonderful job, but hard to read how people are treated. Thank you!
The best thing to do is check your policy to make sure SSDI is an offset from your LTD benefit. Most group policies do have SSDI listed as a reduction from your monthly benefit. I am the moderator of this site and have approval over all of the posts. Our readers can probably tell you I don’t allow anyone to be disrespected on this site. And……….everyone’s opinion is welcomed as long as it is respectful to those who are disabled. Thanks for posting.
My policy is an individual policy, and would like to discuss my situation with you.
In my earlier post, what I meant was how people are treated by the insurance companies… I apologize, since becoming disabled not very good at saying what I mean. Thank you.
Sorry. Please feel free to call me on Monday. My phone number is located in the tab at the top of Lindanee’s Blog.