Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of progressive, long-term lung diseases that cause airflow blockage and breathing-related problems. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the most common conditions that make up COPD, and the damage caused to the lungs from COPD cannot be reversed.
Symptoms include a habitual cough that produces large amounts of phlegm, as well as wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and a lack of energy. People with COPD are at increased risk of developing heart disease, lung cancer and a variety of other conditions. They are also likely to experience episodes of exacerbations, where their symptoms become worse than the usual day-to-day variation and persist for at least several days, affecting their ability to work and earn a living.
If you are medically diagnosed and being treated by doctors for COPD and you can prove to an attending physician that your condition prevents you from working – you may qualify for long-term disability benefits. Beware the traps that the insurance companies set up for attending physicians. I discuss how the insurance companies have rigged the system further in this article – and how our firm gets around that.
Remember that just because you have COPD does not get you long-term disability benefits. Proving you cannot work is how you increase your likelihood of getting approved for long-term disability benefits for your COPD.
We can review your long-term benefits policy or program to ensure you meet the criteria.
Your best chance at getting the long-term disability benefits you need includes pulling together the strongest evidence of how having COPD has affected your ability to work. That’s why it’s important to carefully review the requirements of your specific long-term disability policy or program to ensure you meet all the necessary criteria.
Tucker Disability Law, there are 4 strategies we use to help win your COPD disability insurance claim. They are:
Tucker Disability Law, there are 4 strategies we use to help win your COPD disability insurance claim. They are:
- Keep a daily journal to detail what you are feeling and how and when you are limited. This is the best way to give your physician specific instances of how your condition prevents you from being able to work and perform even the most routine tasks.
We’ve developed a journal that helps you provide details about the severity and duration of your COPD symptoms and any limitations or restrictions it imposes on your ability to perform your job. The more you document, the greater your chance of qualifying. Click here or use the yellow box to the right to get my proven-to-work Capability Journal now.
- Make sure to see your pulmonologist/lung specialist and primary care doctor on a regular basis. Up-to-date medical documentation and evidence supporting your COPD condition are vital to support your claim for long-term disability due to COPD.
Your pulmonologist/lung specialist and primary care doctor need to know how your COPD symptoms affect your everyday life, how they may change from time to time, and any side effects of your treatments and medications.
My Capability Journal will help your doctor understand your physical and mental limitations. Start journaling today.
- Let your family and friends know about your condition and its symptoms to understand why you can’t work.
Although you may want to keep your health issues private, this is critical since insurance companies often ask those close to you about your symptoms and how they affect you.
These same people can be the best witnesses in a disability claim. Give your friends and family copies of my journal, and ask them to journal your limitations.
- Attending Physician Statement Form: Getting a doctor to fill out and sign your disability form is a must-have to qualify for long-term benefits for COPD. But here is where the insurance companies rig the system or stack the odds against you.
The rigging starts with the Attending Physician Statement form. The form provided by the insurance company is “one size fits all” and is not specifically for someone with COPD. As a result, the form makes it impossible for a doctor to detail your limitations.
Here’s the Insurance Company’s biggest trick: their Attending Physician Statement form does not ask the right diagnostic questions, meaning the questions the insurance company doesn’t want the doctor to answer. Insurance companies only ask the questions they want answered, but those aren’t the questions that help you win your claim.
Tucker Disability Law can help assist you by offering a FREE Capability Journal that you can download immediately. This journal, created by our experienced disability attorneys and complete with easy-to-follow instructions, is a proven asset to help you gather the evidence needed to win your disability case. Use this journal on a regular basis and bring it with you to your doctor’s visits so your provider can see how your symptoms limit your ability to work.
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How Tucker Disability Law Can Help
Here’s the reality.
The burden of proof in long-term disability cases is on you. And the truth is, insurance companies don’t want to pay the claims. Furthermore, the doctors they may send you to are on the insurance company’s side, not yours.
That’s why fighting the insurance companies on your own is not easy, if not impossible. In fact, going it alone has an extremely high fail rate, estimated to be as high as 98%!
However, if you’re struggling to make a living and overwhelmed by the anxiety, frustration, and depression associated with your financial burdens as a result of COPD, Tucker Disability Law is ready to fight for you.
We have a team of highly qualified physicians and healthcare professionals ready to look out for YOUR best interests.
If you’ve been denied or cut off from your long-term disability benefits related to COPD, we go to battle with the big insurance companies on a daily basis, and unlike some of those other firms, we don’t settle for pennies on the dollar.
The only way to fast-track your claim is to have all your ducks in a row.
We offer a three-step success plan:
Most of our cases are contingency, meaning you pay ZERO if we don’t win your case. Unlike the very high failure rate of claimants who go it alone, we have a 98% success rate for our clients.
At the end of the day, Tucker Disability Law doesn’t settle for less. Neither should you. We’ll fight for your benefits so you’ll have the income to help pay for your medical care and regular living expenses. After all, that is why you had disability insurance to begin with – to pay your bills.
Schedule your free consultation now and put our team of disability experts to work for you today.
