Long Term Disability Question

[SunGold]

Hi All,
My DH has been on STD for the past few months - taking a few days off on infusion weeks. His company has sent him paperwork to fill out Long Term Disability (Company sponsored) since the STD will end and run into LTD. This will pay him at least 50% of his current pay so it's a good option for us going forward.
We had the Physician fill out details of what his physical limits are. There is one section which asks if we have already applied for Social Security Disability or if we intend to and when and why details. We haven't (no specific reason, except he's presently working, so haven't thought about filing.)

1. Is there any advantage to filing Soc. Sec. Disab. or not, in light of the company sponsored disability?
2. What happens if the company does not qualify him for LTD, can we reapply for the company sponsored LTD and/or SSD at a later point in time.

SurroundedbyLove - I think you said you had taken company sponsored LTD, how did you go about filling this bit. Pl. feel free to pm me.

Sincere thanks,
Sungold

[eitter]

Hi All,
We had the Physician fill out details of what his physical limits are. There is one section which asks if we have already applied for Social Security Disability or if we intend to and when and why details. We haven't (no specific reason, except he's presently working, so haven't thought about filing.)

1. Is there any advantage to filing Soc. Sec. Disab. or not, in light of the company sponsored disability?
2. What happens if the company does not qualify him for LTD, can we reapply for the company sponsored LTD and/or SSD at a later point in time.

I just posted that my package is going through through the Federal Gov't and I was REQUIRED to file for Soc Security as part of the process, all I had to do was apply, DID NOT need to get approved, in fact was denied. SO here is what you do:

If you apply online for Soc Security, if you answer yes that you are still working it will automatically not let you go on.
So I called them and I had to set up a phone interview and speak to someone, answer some easy questions and was told I was denied for several reasons. One being I am still working and also because my income is to high.
I was sent a letter denying me and was told to reapply once I get approved for Federal Disability Retirement and stop working and my case would be reevaluated.

So now I have an open case which is a good thing and they will check in on me from time to time.

NOW had I been approved per the parameters of my Federal Disability Retirement I would take what Soc Security would give me and deduct that from what my Federal Disability Benefits were per month 100% for the first year and each year there after deduct 60%.
So I WILL reapply after I stop working.

But you will hear especially around here that getting approved for Social Security benefits is very difficult and the threshold is much higher.

Not sure I answered any of your questions, if you have other questions just ask me!

[Matthew]

SunGold all (ALL) employer LTD policies require you to apply for SS disability - won't hurt it is just a requirement. Your husband won't get it, but that's ok - LTD co just wants to make sure that you do apply.

[Bev G]

Liz,

I sure had to pay income taxes on my SSDI. I wonder if I did something wrong?

Bev

[Granny]

I applied for SSD and was approved quickly and quite in shock! I'm in SC and a stage III. I also had to apply because of LTD through my job. Never hurts to try. As my father would say, the worst they can say is no!
Granny

[Granny]

I have another thought and question on the disability issue.
How and when do you know it's safe to return to work? If I go back and the cancer returns will I be eligible again for disability? I'm not sure how long you have to be back on the job for FMLA to kick in?
Granny

[simon031003]

Bev,

We had to pay taxes on dh's ssdi also. It depends on your adjusted gross income on whether you have to claim the income. With mine and his income, we did have to claim it; however, you only pay taxes on a portion of it.

[gep]

Folks, most LTD plans require you to apply for SSDI and they have an offset provision if you get it. So, if you start getting the LTD, apply for SSDI and then get approved for SSDI for some of the same time period, you'll have to pay back some of the LTD money that you got. Going forward you'll get your full SSDI and less LTD.
You can go on SSDI, do a trial work period (where you can get both your work pay and SSDI) before you stop being eligible for the SSDI. There's also expedited reinstatement if you can't continue working because of the same disability for I think, 60 months. Go on the ssa.gov website and it will explain SSDI and working.
Also, there's a presumption that you're not disabled if you're making $1040 a month gross. This is a rebuttable presumption. Also, impairment related work expenses (IRWE's) can reduce gross earnings to below that amount. It's not so simple that if you're working, you're not eligible for SSDI. You just have to be working at a very low level.

[eitter]

I wanted to clarify....yes it is true SSDI can be taxable and sometimes it is not here is some information:

"The unfortunate news is that SSDI payments are potentially taxable. The good news is that the amount taxed will probably be very low, if anything at all.

There are really two major types of SSDI payments that are subject to tax:

SSDI monthly payments, and
Lump-sum (retroactive) payments of SSDI benefits.
With both types of SSDI payments, how much that is taxable depends on the total amount of your benefits and other income."

And it was my bad to say it is always tax free and that is not true, I should know better as an IRS Agent. So seek advice from your tax professional!

[RixInPhx]

Damn Liz, I filled-out my forms and mailed them last night, claiming you told me I owed them nothing.



Just kidding, hope to see at the next discussion group meeting thing!
-Rick

[eitter]

Damn Liz, I filled-out my forms and mailed them last night, claiming you told me I owed them nothing.

Just kidding, hope to see at the next discussion group meeting thing!
-Rick

You Betcha! I will be there with Bells On!!!!!!

See you tomorrow night!

Liz

[Surroundedbylove]

Caution on the "most LTD plans require you to apply for SSDI" - it depends on the situation. For example, in my case I was going to be long term disabled through treatment and surgeries but I was not going to be totally and permanently disabled as far as we could see. They did not make me apply. They COULD have made me apply if they thought they were going to be a situation of paying disability benefits for a totally and permanently disabled situation. If the patient is not likely to be approved for SSDI it can be better NOT to apply because if the patient later IS able to be qualified they will be in an appeals situation rather than the fast track compassionate allowance situation. This is what I understand.

[TheBurn]

When applying for LTD, the best move is to get a copy of your Summary Plan Description ("SPD") for your employer and a copy of the policy from the insurer. Then look for the provisions on social security and on offsets. Most group policies make you apply for SS (and appeal if you are denied). If you don't some will make you agree to reimburse them later if you get it or they will assume receipt and offset anyway. Some will provide you with a company that assists you with the entire SS process.

So get the documents and ask questions about anything you don't understand.