If Fibromyalgia is keeping you from working and you have a claim under your employer’s group disability plan, here are three strategies that can help you to win your claim.
First, see a rheumatologist that treats Fibromyalgia. If you are already seeing your primary care physician, you still need to see a rheumatologist because the insurance company has its own rheumatologists that will review your records to write reports saying your condition is not as bad as you say it is. Seeing your own rheumatologist builds your medical records with information on your symptoms, pain, and frequency while preventing the insurance company from getting the upper hand.
Second, keep a dated symptom journal of your own, and write in it regularly to document how your condition affects your life. Note changes in severity that you experience. There are apps like Pain Tracker and Manage My Pain that exist for this purpose. A 3-ring or spiral notebook can also be used to document your conditions. Be sure to document your bad days. This journal will help you later when you must explain how you were feeling at a given time.
Third, stop posting pictures on social media that could be seen as indicating your condition is not as bad as it is. Smiling pictures at the beach or at parties can sabotage your claim. Do not allow people to tag you, and set your privacy settings so the insurance company cannot do surveillance on your social media accounts.
By building your medical records, keeping your own accounts of your experience, and preventing insurance companies from taking your life experiences out of context, you can position yourself better to win your Fibromyalgia disability claim. Watch the video to learn more.
At Tucker Disability Law we handle Fibromyalgia Disability cases every day. If your disability claim has been denied, or if you have any additional questions, call Tucker Disability Law at (866) 282-5260, or review our videos and media library for more information.
Video TranscriptThree strategies for winning your Fibromyalgia disability insurance claim.
I'm John Tucker. I'm a Disability Attorney and I represent people against disability insurance companies all over the United States. If you have a claim under your employer's group disability plan and Fibromyalgia is keeping you from working, I want to give you three strategies for things you can do to win that claim, hopefully without having to appeal.
First, if you're not seeing a rheumatologist, get to a rheumatologist. Seeing the specialist that treats fibromyalgia is one of the keys to winning a Fibromyalgia claim. A lot of people think they can see their PCP, their primary care physician and that's enough. You can see your PCP, but if you're not seeing a rheumatologist, the insurance company is going to have the upper hand on you, because they'll have your claim reviewed by a board certified rheumatologist who says you really don't have symptoms as bad as you were saying. When you go to your own doctor and you report all of the symptoms you're having, how frequently they're coming, where the pain is, what you're feeling, that's going to get documented, and that will support your claim. It will help you prove to the insurance company you're not lying.
Second, use a symptom journal of some kind. You can use an app like Pain Tracker or Manage My Pain. I don't get paid to recommend them, but they've got good platforms for documenting pain. You can even use a three ring notebook if you want. Just write down what's happening to you, particularly on your bad days. If you have a contemporaneous journal, meaning records you're keeping in time, as you go, not something that you're writing down months or weeks after the fact, it will help you prove what was happening in the past throughout your whole disability. That will help you. In that journal you want to write down the duration, how long it's lasting, the severity, how it feels and how bad it is, the frequency, how often things are happening. But keep a journal.
Finally, stop posting pictures of yourself having a fantastic time at the beach or on your boat or smiling at a party on social media. If your social media isn't on privacy lockdown, you're giving the disability insurance company free surveillance. They don't even need to hire a private investigator because you're the best private investigator they could have when you post all those pictures on your social media. And don't let your friends tag you. Put yourself in a position where you have true privacy in your life and an insurance company doesn't have the ability to track you online.
If your Fibromyalgia disability claim has been denied by a disability insurance company, call me at the number on your screen. I represent people just like you in all 50 states. I'm John Tucker. Thanks for watching.
