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Stroke: a long-term disability sometimes challenged by long term disability insurers

On Behalf of | Oct 13, 2020 | Long Term Disability Claim Denial

It can happen in a flash. One minute you feel perfectly fine, but within seconds your world is upended in a way you never experienced before.

You might find that simply catching a breath is difficult. Your vision might suddenly become blurred. Balance might be impaired, with dizziness making it difficult to even stand.

And then there’s this, too: Your heart might be pounding, punctuated by spiking blood pressure levels that grow dangerously high. And, notably, the collective working of such symptoms might render it impossible to even communicate to others that something is wrong and that you need immediate medical attention.

Individuals who have ever experienced one or more of stroke’s hallmark symptoms can readily identify with the above depiction of what a stroke onset is like.

In a nutshell, it is a horrific and often terrifying experience. One in-depth legal source on that top-tier medical concern stresses that, “A stroke is a frightening experience that can leave an individual with serious physical or mental problems.”

How common is stroke across the United States?

The above-posed header query can be answered this way: Most Americans know someone – a loved one, friend, acquaintance or other person – who has had a stroke experience. Here is a bit of relevant information concerning strokes that comes courtesy of the federal Centers for Disease Control:

  • A stroke occurs somewhere in the U.S. about every 40 seconds
  • About 15 people across the country die every hour from strokes
  • Stroke is a top-5 cause of death in the United States
  • Nearly 17% of all heart-linked deaths nationally are directly tied to strokes

This, and additional data, shows that a stroke can have both immediate and long-term health ramifications for millions of Americans.

The CDC underscores that reality, noting that stroke “is a leading cause of serious long-term disability.”

Stroke and long-term disability challenges

As noted, reams of empirical evidence indicate that high numbers of stroke victims can suffer material disability over an intermediate period of time or a longer duration – sometimes even permanently. Individuals who have had a stroke should be able to be confident that their employer’s long term disability insurance carrier will pay the benefits of which they are entitled.

That doesn’t always turn out to be the case. Many stroke victims facing protracted health challenges from stroke face unexpected and stark blowback in the wake of eminently serious medical challenges. The aforementioned legal overview duly highlights their difficulties, stressing that stroke victims “often find that earning disability benefits … isn’t as easy as they would expect.”

Long term disability insurance companies often delay claim determination and fail to follow ERISA guidelines when denying an appeal from the denial of long term disability benefits.

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