We’re pleased to announce Frankel & Newfield will be exhibiting at this year’s GLIDM, April 25 and 26 at the Huntington Hilton Hotel in Melville, New York.
Many of our clients are dentists, orthodontists, oral surgeons, and other dental professionals, so we like to show our support of the dental profession by attending this important regional conference. The scientific programs, table clinics and exhibit tables are geared to the needs of the dental community, and we like to consider ourselves part of that important community.
Dental professionals face many challenges when applying for disability insurance coverage. Many of our clients thought their completing a simple form would be enough for their individual disability insurance benefits to be processed. But disability insurance is not like health or home insurance. It’s a complex process, with many pitfalls for the inexperienced claimant.
Some of the key issues we see repeatedly with dental professionals:
- Challenges to claims, with disability insurance companies denying claims based on any/own occupation.
- Denied claims based on a lack of robust medical evidence of a disability.
- Claims denied because the doctor’s notes were not clear and did not explicitly convey the tasks and duties that the dentist can no longer perform because of their disability.
- Denied claims because the insurance company takes the position that the dentist can still perform related tasks, such as managing a practice or going into sales of dental equipment.
- Challenged claims where there are partial disability issues, when dentist still working, or returning to work following a period of disability.
These are just a sampling of the types of challenges dentists face when filing for their disability insurance benefits. We also work with dentists who need to reduce their practice and seek partial, or residual, benefits. Our experience includes policies purchased through the American Dental Association as well as group or ERISA disability insurance policies that are part of employment benefits.
If you wish, we invite you to bring your disability insurance policy with you and we can speak about some of the important issues to consider, or a free consultation can be scheduled for another time.
We look forward to seeing you at GLIDM in April.
