Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company acquired Aetna’s group long term disability business a few years ago. At that time, there were many persons receiving long term disability benefits from Aetna who had received such benefits for many, many years. Those person’s claims were all transferred to Hartford.
Since those persons had all been disabled for years, one would expect that Hartford would continue to pay those persons the long term disability benefits which they were promised under the terms of the policies insuring them. But that does not appear to be the case. It appears to us at the ERISA Law Center that Hartford may be targeting persons whose long term disability benefits were granted by Aetna and paid by Aetna for years, for termination of those benefits. Here are two examples of how it appears Hartford is targeting former Aetna insureds for termination of their long term disability benefits.
The first example concerns a person who was injured in a car accident many years ago, suffered a traumatic brain injury, among other injuries, in that car accident, was granted long term disability benefits by Aetna and was paid those benefits by Aetna for many years. During the time Aetna paid the long term disability benefits this person was often evaluated by neuropsychologists, who confirmed that as a result of traumatic brain injury this person suffered from loss of cognitive capacity. This person has impaired memory and is, no longer able to function intellectually at the level at which functioned previously and therefore could no longer earn a living. Nonetheless, Hartford sent this person for an examination by another neuropsychologist who wrote a false report concluding that this person did not suffer a traumatic brain injury and therefore was not disabled. That report was detailed, complicated, and appeared to be quite thorough and reliable. But the Hartford-hired neuropsychologist, mischaracterized and misrepresented the medical evidence in the person’s records in order to justify the conclusions that the person had not suffered from a traumatic brain injury and that the person was not disabled.
The ERISA Law Center responded to the false neuropsychological report, pointing out the false statements in the report and demonstrating that the neuropsychologist’s conclusions were not valid. Therefore, this person’s benefits were not terminated. Hartford certainly knew the neuropsychologist’s report was false because Hartford had the underlying medical record which the Hartford-hired neuropsychologist misrepresented. Hartford never should have required this person to undergo another neuropsychological evaluation. Hartford never should have hired the neuropsychologist it hired to do the evaluation. And, once it got the false report, Hartford should have realized that the report was false. But it appears that Hartford was too intent on terminating this person’s long term disability benefits.
Another person became disabled more than 15 years ago and had not worked since. When Hartford took over Aetna’s long term disability group business, Hartford initially continued to pay this person’s long term disability benefits. For years Aetna and then Hartford only required an annual report from this person’s primary treating doctor – and very little else. But recently Hartford required far more information, which it received. Then it hired a so called “independent doctor” to review this person’s medical records. But Hartford did not provide all the records it had on this person or even all the records it had recently obtained on this person, it only provided selective limited records to the doctor it hired for the review. Based on those limited records, that doctor concluded that this person could work. Then Hartford had one of its internal employees prepare an employability analysis report based on the new medical report that Hartford obtained. The Hartford employee who prepared the employability analysis report concluded that this person could work at a job well beyond this person’s education, training, or experience, despite the fact that this person had not worked for more than 15 years and had been recognized as disabled by the Social Security Administration all that time. Based on the false medical review and the false employability analysis report, Hartford terminated this person’s benefits.
At that point the ERISA Law Center got involved, submitted a detailed appeal, and the person’s long term disability benefits were reinstated.
It appears to us at the ERISA Law Center that Hartford does not want to pay long term disability benefits to many persons whose benefits were granted by Aetna and is therefore targeting those person’s long term disability benefits for termination. If your long term disability benefits were granted by Aetna and have now been terminated by Hartford, call the ERISA Law Center. We know what unfair practices and frauds Hartford is perpetrating to wrongfully terminate long term disability benefits and we can help you get your rightful long term disability benefits restored.