New York Life Disability Insurance Claim Attorneys

New York Life purchased CIGNA’s group life, accident, and disability business in 2020, so all of CIGNA disability claimants have been moved over to New York Life.

Has Anything Changed Now That New York Life Owns CIGNA and LINA Disability Policies?

New York Life employs the same claim handling tactics of delay, denial, and termination as CIGNA. Many CIGNA employees now work for New York Life, so claimants should be concerned about their disability claims being put in jeopardy. The same claims adjusters who denied claims for CIGNA are now denying claims for New York Life.

Our disability attorneys have the experience you need to fight for your New York Life disability claim. Call our office today at 877-LTD-CLAIM (877-583-2524) to learn how we can help protect you from this powerful insurance company. Disability insurance lawyers Frankel & Newfield have successfully represented claimants whose disability benefits have been denied or terminated by New York Life, CIGNA, and LINA (Life Insurance Company of North America), another large disability insurance company affiliated with CIGNA and now part of New York Life.

Can New York Life Change My CIGNA Disability Insurance Policy?

Most of CIGNA’s disability coverage is provided to large and small companies, rather than individual policies, which means that they are governed by ERISA, a federal law with many strict procedures. Thus, these are often called ERISA disability claims. When New York Life purchased CIGNA, your policy and millions of others became “legacy” policies – disability policies considered part of a book of business and liabilities to New York Life. When such huge corporate transactions take place, one of the first things that happens is the company reviews cases of people who are on claim and being paid benefits to see which ones could be reasonably terminated.

We are now seeing the result, as CIGNA claimants are contacting the firm because New York Life is reviewing their claims, asking for additional medical reports or additional information about their prior employment.

While New York Life cannot legally change the terms of your policy, which is a contract between you and the insurance company, they can be more aggressive about terminating legacy policies. If your New York Life, CIGNA, or LINA disability insurance benefits have been denied or terminated, call Frankel & Newfield today for a free consultation at 877-LTD-CLAIM (877-583-2524).

Why Do I Need a CIGNA/New York Life Long-Term Disability Insurance Claims Law Firm?

When you file a long-term disability claim with CIGNA, there will be some challenges. For starters, you will want to be very careful about getting your treating doctor on board with gathering all of your medical records prepared to demonstrate more than a diagnosis – but HOW and WHY you are impaired. Their response to your CIGNA long-term disability claim could make the difference between an approved claim and one that is denied.

See the testimonial from one of Frankel & Newfield’s CIGNA/New York Life clients below concerning doctor’s records and how easy it is to make one mistake that can erase your disability insurance.

You’ll also want to be very careful about documenting your contact with any CIGNA representatives. Every time you have an interaction with a representative from the company, or from one of the many subcontractors that CIGNA hires to investigate claims, take detailed notes. Here are some of the people who might contact you directly at CIGNA’s direction:

• Claims Adjusters
• Nurse Practitioners
• Medical Doctors
• Insurance Company Lawyers
• Investigators

Depending on the nature of your claim, your age, and the size of your benefit, you might be subject to surveillance. These are the professionals you won’t meet – they’ll more than likely conduct video surveillance to track your coming and going or anything you do outside your home. Yes, it’s creepy, but it’s part of the long-term disability claims management process. Often, minor activity is utilized by CIGNA to determine greater functionality than is reality.

Why Should I Have Frankel & Newfield Handle My New York Life/CIGNA Disability Claim Denial?

The attorneys at Frankel & Newfield have successfully represented many CIGNA disability insurance policyholders in their quest to obtain or maintain their short-term and long-term disability insurance benefits from New York Life, CIGNA or LINA. They know the tactics and strategies used by Cigna to delay and deny benefits, and they know the insurance company’s internal representatives.

We work with clients who have:

• Short-term disability claims
• Long-term disability insurance claims
• ERISA denied or terminated claims
• ERISA and Non-ERISA appeals
• Litigation nationwide

A nurse administrator from Maine posted this review on Avvo about how Jason helped her with a CIGNA disability policy: “I can’t say enough positive things about Jason and his group. He saved me! My insurance had actually cut me off, because my Dr. had checked the wrong box – they didn’t call, ask questions, verify, etc. after years of my condition and the medical form always being the same. I have a chronic issue that will not go away or get better. Instead they cut off my income that day – with no notice. All of a sudden I had no income – and had no idea how to appeal their decision. I thank God I found Jason as he walked me through all of the steps to maximize my supporting information, records etc. that would be needed to send in. Then he added his special legal input and documentation – and after a year of fighting them, my benefits were restored – AND I was provided the back pay!!!”

Another client who was terminated by CIGNA and represented by Frankel & Newfield posted this review: “As a result of my disability claim with CIGNA being terminated I needed to file an appeal to get it restored. After some research on which firm would best handle this case, I emailed Frankel and Newfield, P. C. With a brief description of my case. Within minutes of sending the email I received a call from Jason Newfield. Mr. Newfield was able to answer all my questions and informed me I had a very strong case. As a result of our very informative and cordial call, I decided to hire Mr. Newfield’s firm to file the appeal. Mr. Newfield and his Senior Paralegal “Christina Murray” were amazing dealing with Cigna. They took complete charge of my case and walked me through everything from start to finish and the end result was full restoration of my benefits. I highly recommend their firm!” David

An Obvious Fact is Denied in Attempt to Deny Disability Claim Benefit

One LINA case made its way to Federal Court after an extensive series of appeals and denials through the administrative hearing process. The insurance company took the position that the claimant’s occupation was not Sales Personnel and that he was therefore not entitled to a higher level of disability benefits that would result if his bonuses and target incentive bonuses were included. But the man was a sales rep for a big pharmaceutical company and his income was structured specifically with bonuses and targeted incentive compensation bonuses.

LINA/CIGNA sought to reclassify his occupation to minimize his monthly benefits.

In Federal Court, the judge ruled that LINA/CIGNA failed to prove that he was not a salesperson, and the decision of the Plan Administrator was reversed. The claimant won benefits retroactive to the date that his long term disability benefits would have begun. Hodges v. Life Ins. Co. of North Am

How Should You Submit a Disability Claim to CIGNA Now That It is New York Life?

Submitting a group disability claim to New York Life if you used to have a CIGNA or LINA disability policy needs to be done with great care. We caution any disability policy owner to be extremely careful if they choose to go through the application process using the website on their own. The application process is spring-loaded with forced choice questions geared to elicit information that will be used to build a case against your claim. Also, you need to be aware that medical records and employment documents may not be prepared with an eye to protect your claim. One mistake by a well-meaning doctor could put your claim at risk.

How CIGNA Works to Deny Your Claim

Here are some examples of how New York Life, CIGNA and LINA have tried to stop paying disability claimants – and why we fight so hard for our clients:

In 2013 following investigations by insurance commissioners from Connecticut, California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Maine regarding improper denials of long-term disability claims and wrongfully terminated benefit payments, CIGNA/LINA had to pay a $77 million settlement. The settlement also required CIGNA/LINA to improve their claims handling processes and establish a program to review long-term disability claims that had been improperly denied or terminated.

Some of the specific allegations against CIGNA/LINA were the following:

• Failing to adopt and implement reasonable standards for the prompt investigation and processing of claims arising under its insurance policies
• Failing to represent claimants’ pertinent facts or insurance policy provisions relating to a coverage at issue
• Unreasonably denying claims where it was aware that the information it required for potential entitlement to benefits existed but was not obtained or reviewed prior to making the denial decision
• Failing to perform any functional testing or peer review of medical records on file
• Failing to consult with health care professionals who have appropriate training and experience in the field of medicine involved in the medical judgment
• Terminating claims during the “any occupation” definition of disability without performing a transferable skills analysis and labor market survey to identify alternate occupations appropriate to the claimants based on their restrictions, limitations, education, training, and experience
• Failing to provide complete information in the file to the health care expert performing a medical review of the records
• Failing to clarify a claimant’s restrictions and limitations with the attending physician who was supporting disability

These charges were all proven in a Federal Court.

As a result of its settlement with the numerous insurance departments who investigated these issues, CIGNA/LINA thus agreed to adopt various “enhanced” procedures, including the following:

• Giving more appropriate consideration to awards of Social Security Disability Income (SSDI)
• Gathering and analyzing medical records for the claimant’s full medical history
• Enhancing its use and selection of External Medical Resources
• Providing full and complete documentation to its various vocational and medical resources

Contact Us Today to Get Help with Your New York Life, CIGNA, or LINA Disability Claim

All long-term disability insurance claimants on claim with New York Life, CIGNA or LINA need the skilled guidance of an experienced disability insurance attorney that has represented CIGNA claimants.

Call our office today for a free consultation at 877-LTD-CLAIM (877-583-2524). Frankel & Newfield represents ERISA clients nationwide.

How Frankel & Newfield Helps CIGNA Disability Policyowners

We help claimants with initial claim processing development and submission, representing claimants for both short-term disability insurance and long-term disability insurance claims. By being involved at this early stage of the disability claim process, we can help to ensure that our client’s doctors are able to effectively articulate the functional impairments and deficits faced by our clients to support the claim most strongly. We also address any requests for physical or psychological examinations during the claim process, or a request for a Functional Capacity Evaluation or interview request.

ERISA Appeals of Denied or Terminated Claims

Frankel & Newfield help claimants whose ERISA or non-ERISA claims have been denied or terminated and are required to undertake an ERISA appeal, before they have the ability to pursue litigation against CIGNA. Our appeal formula for success in overturning a denied or terminated long-term disability insurance claim addresses a myriad of issues including medical, vocational, factual, and legal. We create a robust appeal that has a dual audience. First, we submit the appeal for CIGNA, trying to get them to overturn their claim determination by showing them the egregious nature of the process and decision. The second audience is the Federal Judge who may ultimately have to decide your claim if CIGNA does not change their mind upon consideration of the appeal.

Can You Help Me with CIGNA ERISA Litigation?