I explain present value in several different ways. It can be considered that money today is worth more than the money we get tomorrow. In other words, if you get $10 today and invest it at a percentage for twenty years, it may yield $15.00, if you get $10 in fifteen years it’s still $10.00.

Would you prefer $10 today or $10 in fifteen years?

In evaluating Long Term Disability claims we will look at the total amount of benefits due over the life of the policy and then reduce it to present value. In other words, what is your policy worth today as opposed to over the life of your plan?

Another way to look at it is if you have won the $20 million jackpot and you want it now, you’d only get $6 million or you can get the entire $20 million by waiting and getting it over time. Present value is what that $20 million jackpot is worth today.

If you have questions about the value of your Long Term Disability case, contact ERISA disability attorney, Nancy Cavey, who handles ERISA Long Term Disability claims in the Southeastern United States including Florida, Georgia and Alabama.

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Long Term Disability carriers can’t shut their eyes to “readily available information when the evidence and record suggest that the information might confirm the beneficiary’s theory of entitlement.” In an interesting decision in Gaither v. ETNA, 394f3d792(10^th Circuit 2004), the claimant found Mr. Gaither, was accepted as being entitled to Long Term Disability benefits under the own occupation standards, in part because of the narcotics he was taking as a result of his spinal condition.

ETNA later took the position that he was not entitled to any further disability benefits and chose to ignore medical evidence that the claimant had to continue to use medication which had significant side effects, the court reserved the denial and in doing so pointed out that the administrator didn’t have to pour over a person’s medical records for a possible basis of disability that hasn’t been raised or consider what further evidence might be honorable to make a favorable decision. The court did say that Long Term Disability carrier’s can’t turn a blind eye to the information in the record, that the carrier has a duty to investigate information that confirm your period of entitlement for Long Term Disability benefits.

ETNA suggested that it acts like a judge in a Long Term Disability matter and the priorities bear the responsibility for compiling evidence to support the claim for Long Term Disability. ETNA also argued that they had “little or no responsibility to see qualification even when the evidence suggested the possibility of a legitimate claim,” the court rejected that argument.

If a Long Term Disability carrier like ETNA is handling your case in an adversarial manner, you need the assistance of a Long Term Disability attorney like Nancy Cavey, who helps Long Term Disability applicants or those Long Term Disability ERISA applicants who’s claim has been denied. Nancy Cavey has written a free no obligation consumer guide entitled, “Robbed of Your Peace of Mind.”

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Reading a Long Term Disability denial letter can be like reading a bad novel. Nancy Cavey, an expert Long Term Disability attorney based in the Tampa Bay area, will commonly see many mistakes made by Long Term Disability carriers when reviewing denial letters. One the most common involves those claim’s denials based on a medical review by an in house nurse.

Now this will take several forms. Nurses will review medical records and render opinions about your functional capacity. They have no expertise do they? A review preformed by a nurse violates the ERISA regulations. 29cfr section 2560.502-1(h)(3)(i) provides that medical judgments have to be made by “healthcare professionals with the appropriate training and experience in the field of medicine involved in the medical judgment.”

Here in Florida, the District Court in Levinson v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Company 2000wl193623(S.d.fla.) January 5, 2000, have held that a medical review by a nurse is an inappropriate basis for claim’s denial.

The next mistake that Long Term Disability attorney Nancy Cavey sees is when the nurse summary is given to the in house physician for review. It is not uncommon to see the in house physician or even an outside medical reviewer adopt the opinion of the nurse reviewer. You can always tell that the in house physician or outside medical reviewer has adopted the opinion of the nurse when there was just a summary or without documentation of any additional medical records for review. That is the grounds for argument, if the Long Term Disability carrier has denied your rights for a full and fair review.

If your Long Term Disability claim has been denied as a result of a nurse review, contact Tampa Bay based Florida disability attorney, Nancy Cavey.

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Long Term Disability carriers routinely use video surveillance. Why? They use the surveillance to document what you do during your day, including the activities of daily living, such as running errands, filling up your gas tank, going to the bank.

While this minimal activity doesn’t necessarily establish that you are capable of working, what it can be used for is to sabotage your case. How so?

The Long Term Disability carrier has you complete activities of daily living in which you are to accurately document what you are physically capable of doing. If in that form, or in a statement, you tell the Long Term Disability insurance company that you “always use a cane,” or that you always “limp,” and the surveillance shows you walking without a cane or without a limp, you are in trouble!

While walking without a cane or without a limp doesn’t mean that you can work, it does destroy your credibility.

In the book Robbed of Your Peace of Mind it talks about how to complete Activity of Daily Living forms, I emphasize that you should “never use the word never.” Never use the word “always.” Tell the truth, you have good days and bad days, and there are days that you can do more. Activity level is dependent upon your pain and your medication.

Don’t be the star in a surveillance horror show. Don’t let the pictures of what you are doing in your daily routine contradict what you said to the Long Term Disability carrier and your doctors.

For a free copy of the book Robbed of Your Peace of Mind, and information about your Long Term Disability claim, contact Nancy Cavey, your Long term Disability denied lawyer by phone at 727-894-3188 or at caveylaw.com.

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