Medical Disability

[lmlee]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

My husband works for a 'relatively' small dump truck company. They are individually owned, with about 90 employees. For the past 17yrs I have worked for a newspaper that has changed ownership several times, but has always been owned by a huge company...right now we are owned by Chicage Tribune. So we never have HR issues...they are always very careful. So some of what goes on at my husband's company doesn't make any sense to me.

Anyway...one of the drivers who has been there for almost 8yrs went for a physical, the found something sent him to a specialist, end result being that he has a cancerous tumor on his colon. Very small, easily treatable. But he is going to need surgery and will be about for 2-3 months. His last paycheck was accompanied by a handwritten note saying that he had to come up with about a $1,000 to pay his insurance premiums while he is out. Apparently they don't offer company sponsored disability...so while he's out he won't be getting paid.

The reason this confuses me is that I've been out on disability 3x (psychiatric) over the past 17yrs. For each one, I was paid 80% for the first 6wks, then 60%, then the one time I went past that, my long-term disability that I pay for kicked in. But at no time did I have to pay out of pocket for my insurance. Is that just a company benefit? Do they have the right to make him pay immediatly? Or are they just automatically putting him on FMLA leave?

 

[moburkes]

They probably won't ask for it immediately. They are not required to cover HIS portion of the health insurance premiums for him. Now, the fact that they do NOT offer short or long term disability is completely separate from requiring him to continue making his premiums for his heath insurance. You are confusing 2 different issues.

 

[ecmst12]

When you were on disability, your benefits were probably still being deducted from your paychecks. Since he will be on UNPAID leave, there is nothing to deduct his benefit costs from, so he will have to pay out of pocket. Remember that these costs can be deducted from your taxes, if you file with itemized deductions. But his employer is not obligated to pay for his insurance while he is out on FMLA leave. All they have to do is make sure he still has a job for at least the 12 weeks required by law.

 

[lmlee]

I take it then that they are not required to offer short-term disability? I understand that while out on FMLA leave you are not being paid so you have to pay for your premiums...I always thought that FMLA leave was a separate entity, that for at least 6wks you would be able to be out on some kind of paid disability.

 

[moburkes]

There is no law that states that an employer has to pay for disability insurance. He could have purchase it on his own, though. Apparently, he didn't.

 

[ecmst12]

FMLA is its own thing, but it overlaps any paid leave that you might be entitled to. Basically all it says is that if you qualify for it, and you have to be out for a qualifying reason, then your employer has to hold your job for you for a minimum of 12 weeks. If you ALSO qualify for paid leave under STD or LTD, that would run concurrently with the FMLA. Any STD benefits that you were offered were a voluntary benefit offered by your employer; most companies do offer some kind of disability benefits but they are not legally required to. There's not a lot of things that employers in this country are legally required to provide!

 

[cbg]

There are only five states that require an employer to provide disabilty benefits, or that where there is a state-provided disability plan. Maryland is not one of those states. No law in MD and no Federal law requires an employer to provide paid disabilty leave of any kind.