You need to be aware and take important actions if you have a disability claim with Cigna, as they are selling their Disability Insurance Division to New York Life.
All group employer disability insurance plans are covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Our firm handles cases throughout the USA in ERISA claims.
Cigna has sold its book of disability policies to New York Life, and while we cannot be sure what will happen, when insurance companies sell their policies to another claims often get terminated because the company that is the new owner of the policies looks to maximize profitability by minimizing payments. That means your claim will likely be up for review, and New York Life has vast resources to build a case for terminating your claim and ending payments to you. Keep in mind New York Life never got paid a premium for the claims they are paying.
You are likely to notice increased claims forms, increased calls from adjusters, and doctors from New York Life contacting your doctors. At the time of the recording of the video accompanying this article, the transaction between Cigna and New York Life was nearly completed. You need to take actions immediately and consistently to protect your claim – the source of money for you and your family.
Visit your doctor regularly to thoroughly document everything in your disability claim. Your documentation needs to be updated and remain updated, even if you have been paid for a claim by Cigna for the past ten years. Keep a very detailed disability journal that documents your experiences and your medical condition. Be aware a private investigator may secretly be following you to build a case against your claim.
When filling out forms, you need to always be truthful, and explain all of your real limitations. You must be able to show why you can’t work at least one or two days a week. Document your bad days and how often they happen, as this documentation will support your disability case. Watch the video to learn more.
If you have a disability insurance claim with Cigna, or if your claim with them is terminated, I want you to call me at (866) 282-5260 to discuss your case. For more information, review our videos and media library resources. We handle disability cases every day in all 50 states.
Video TranscriptCigna sold its book of disability business to New York Life. You've got a Cigna disability claim. So what does that mean for you? I'm John Tucker. I'm a disability insurance attorney and I represent people all over the United States who have claims with Cigna and other disability insurance carriers through group employer, disability plans. They're covered by a federal law called ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. And we represent people all over the United States, in these federal law claims.
Cigna has sold its book of disability business to another insurance company, New York Life. What does that mean? Well, first it means Cigna's getting out of the disability insurance business. They're going to stay in healthcare. New York Life is taking over all of the claims. At the end of the day, we can't tell for sure what's going to happen, but I can tell you what's happened time and time again when I've seen one company sell a book of business to another. Claims get terminated. The company that buys the previous company's book always wants to cull the herd. They want to take claims out because why? They never got paid any premium for those claims. They're paying out claims that they had nothing to do with approving. They want them off the books. And if they can get you off the books, you can rest assured they're going to do it.
Now obviously, we don't know that for sure. And I'm not saying it's definitely going to happen to you, but you should be aware that certain things happen when one company takes over another company's book. You may notice increased claims forms. You may notice increased calls from adjusters. You may notice doctors contacting your doctors. In other words, New York Life has physicians that will call your doctors.
Now, this is happening just as I'm doing this video. The transaction's about to come to a complete close. So it hasn't totally happened yet and Cigna is still on the claims. Over time, you're going to see more and more New York Life people on the cases.
So we don't know what's happening, but you should be aware that more investigation is going to happen after the full transaction has closed. That means you need to go to the doctor, regularly. You need to document everything in your disability claim. Get things up to date. Even if you've been on claim for 10 years, getting paid disability by Cigna, make sure that your doctors know what's going on with you. Make sure that you have regular medical care to document the problems you're having. Keep a disability journal, document what's going on. And know, there may be a private investigator who comes out to follow you and you won't even know it because they're trained professionals.
So of course, always tell the truth when you fill out forms. Tell them about your real limitations. And keep in mind, you don't have to be disabled 24/7. Meaning you're not in a coma all the time. You're not bedridden. You simply have to be able to show why you can't work at least one or two days a week. That means you can't hold down a job. So if you document when you have bad days and how frequently the bad days happen, it's going to go a long way to keeping you on claim and keeping your benefits coming. Because after all getting terminated is bad for your family. You need that money to keep coming into your house.
Now, if you're Cigna claim gets terminated, either by Cigna before the transaction ends or by New York Life, call us at the number on your screen. We can help you. We handle these cases all over the country, from Florida to Alaska. I'm John Tucker. Thanks for watching.
