Long Term Disability Question

[she2003]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I have a long term disability policy with my employer. It has the following statement: "The maximum duration of leave is 6 months at which time employment will be terminated. You must contact Met Life to discuss continuing your long term disability insurance."

I interpret this to mean that if I become very ill, the employer will terminate me at the 6 month point and they will no longer provide the long term disability policy for free. Likely when I contact Met Life, there will be a premium to continue my coverage?

Any feedback is appreciated. Until now, I was under the impression that the policy would cover me to age 65 without premiums although I could not work.

Thanks

 

[cbg]

What is the context of that statement? I can think of two different ways that statement can be interpreted, depending on whether they are talking about disability leaves ONLY, or any kind of leave including person and non-medical.

 

[she2003]

Answer

The statement is specific to the long term disability policy only. It is included in the policy document. Thanks

 

[cbg]

Then I would interpret it this way. Be aware that context is very important and I could be wrong if there is qualifying language elsewhere in the document.

The maximum leave available is six months. At the end of six months, your employment will be terminated. (cbg's note; this is approximately three months longer than required by law, just as an FYI). It will then be up to you to deal with the disability company for the duration of your claim.

I see nothing in your statement regarding premiums. It would be unusual in the extreme for your benefits to stop when employment does, as long as you continue to be disabled under the definition of the policy. It would also be unusual in the extreme for you to be required to continue paying premiums for an on-going claim.

The exception would be if six months is the limit of the LTD eligible period. However, that would be exceptionally short for an LTD policy - many if not most STD policies run that long.

This is only my interpretation, based on 30+ years experience administrating policies and on the isolated statement you've provided. ONLY your HR or Benefits administrator, or the LTD carrier itself, can give you a definite answer.