Has anyone receive corporate disability because of being diagnosed with NS?

[Guest guest]

Hey everyone,

I follow this user group and am now drawing very close to the end of

my short term disability. I have been awarded SSDI benefits, this

took place in October of 2005. Once I receive the notice form SDDI

got in touch with my company and told them that I would be filing

for Long term disabilty (LDT). Since then it has been a up hill

battle. My company abruptly informed me just because I was awarded

SSDI benefits, that this did not mean that I would qualify under

their LTD plan.

Just to let you know I have been a faithful employee of this company

for 28 years. All of my reviews were steller and by all measurments

I was a excellent employ. My first bouts with NS was in December of

1995 as I was hospitalized, in August of 1996 I went in for surgery

and had a portion of my right lung system removed and was diagnosed

with sarcoid. I continued to have systems and high fevers daily and

in 1997 after a serious of spinal taps with high ACE levels and

protein I was then diagnosed with Neurosarcoidosis. Until last year

in april I had continue to work the normal 50 to 60 hour workweek

routine. In March and April of 2005 my body started to shutdown and

I was hospitalized for 5 days. At that point my doctor stated that

in all of his years of practice had not seen spinal fuild as bad as

mine. Once out of the hospital he recommend that I file for

disability as the stress of work and my body was telling me that I

was no longer capable of working and keeping up with the long hours

that I was required to meet the job requirements, infact he said I

needed to stop working all together.

So taking my doctors advice I have been pursuing my long term

benefits from my company. So far they are draging their feet and

with in 45 days all of my benefits will evaporate unless I receive

long term disability. The case worker that is supporting my request

will not email or call me back with updates or status. Infact I was

the one that needed to get my Social Security Records and physically

send them to them for review. The third party management company

doctor insulted my doctor and told him that he was not qualified to

make a disability claim for Neurosarcoidosis as he was only a

general practitioner (even though he was utilizing data that had

come from three different neurologist, a pulmanary doctor, and a

rumatoid doctor) and that he would not consider my doctors

clinically assessment as being valid.

So I am down to the wire and I am wondering if any of you have

received long term disability from a corporate entity or if all of

you only have SDDI benefits. I know that at this time that many of

you have no benefits and I truly am saddened by the lack of

understanding of our illness. If any of you have managed to become

qualified for corporate benefits I would like to talk with you as I

would like to know the process that you and your doctor's took to

gain approval. I know that everyones conditions are different, but

it would be nice to know what it took to convince the company that

your illness was serious enough to warrent LTD benefits.

Also are any of you familar with the term ERISA and have any of you

used ERISA lawyers to win your claims?

Warm regards,

Bob Casper