Disability Insurance Blog

For the first time, a study has shown that low levels of a specific molecule in the blood can be linked to both the severity and the duration of depression. A collaborative study from Stanford University and Rockefeller University and several other research institutions have found that people who suffer from depression have lower levels […]

Letters from the disability insurance company are unnerving even in the best of circumstances. We know that our clients aren’t the only ones who see the return address and think, “What fresh hell is this now?” Whether you’ve filed a claim or have been receiving benefits for a while, you know that feeling. Here’s our […]

The promises sound great – no more glasses, no more contact lenses – unlimited vision. And for most people, Lasik surgery is a life changer. But not everyone has a success story. Many men and women who undergo Lasik surgery are left with double and triple vision, an inability to drive at night, painful dry […]

Our disability insurance law firm has come up against Sedgwick, a third party administrator of disability insurance claims, and Dr. Martin Mendelssohn, an orthopedist who is a hired gun for many insurance companies, performing paper only reviews supporting claim denials and terminations, so it is always rewarding to read about a federal judge who agrees […]

In an ERISA disability case that began with an appeal filed in 2014, a plaintiff sought a judicial review of the determination by Life Insurance Company of America (LINA, a member of the CIGNA family of disability insurance companies) that his occupation did not fall under the classification of Sales Personnel and therefore he was […]

If you’re not already mad as hell about how decisions are made by disability and health insurance companies already, reading the deposition of Dr. Jay Iinuma, a medical director for Aetna Insurance, will certainly send you in that direction. We are linking to this deposition here, because we believe that every person who has an […]

Ask anyone with fibromyalgia if the disease is real. Because disability insurers often deny claims for fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, claiming that are not illnesses, but “conditions”, and questionable ones at that. Today, medical science has proven that fibromyalgia is real. Research has proven that fibromyalgia is related to brain activity that worsens the […]

A federal appeals court has found that an insurance company should not have denied a short-term disability claim based on a clearly diagnosed hereditary disease without first ordering an independent medical examination (IME). In our last post, we wrote about the financial importance of short-term disability or STD benefits to a claimant who is unable […]

At Frankel & Newfield, PC, we represent people across the U.S. seeking disability benefits under long-term policies AND those with short-term disability insurance claims.  Short-term claims are important when missing even a few paychecks can weaken your family’s financial safety net and because if the disabling impairment lasts longer than the time limit of the […]

On February 26, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma issued a decision under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, known as ERISA, in which the judge meaningfully interpreted the law casting favorable light on the claimant’s legal rights. The plaintiff had sought review of the insurer’s denial of her long-term disability […]