As an employee, the process of purchasing long-term disability (LTD) insurance is simple and usually part of your employee benefits package. Most of the time your employer will offer it, but if not, you can purchase it yourself. So what happens if you sustain an injury that incapacitates you or makes you unable to work at all?

Defining Long Term Disability

First, before you do anything, make sure you understand how your company defines disability. In general, a long-term disability is any medical condition that prevents you from working for an extended period of time. You can either be fully or partially disabled. If you are fully disabled, you no longer have the ability to work but if only partially disabled, you can work on a limited capacity. You want to get to know your employer’s definition of disability and understand which category you fall under.

Evidentiary Requirements in Georgia for DLT

To get LTD benefits, you must have a condition or injury that prevents you from working. You have to prove your condition is serious enough that you can’t work, or can only work on a limited basis. When filing your claim, you must submit medical records and evidence backing up your claim of being unable to work. Here are some documents that you will need to provide:

• Your doctor’s opinion about your medical condition in a written statement.
• A complete set of medical records including the results of any diagnostic tests such as MRI’s, CT scans, EKG’s, EMG’s, X-rays, blood tests, EEG’s, Pulmonary function tests, Psychological tests, etc

How Workers’ Comp and LTD Relate

LTD insurance and workers’ comp insurance are equally important and work synergistically, but have to be filed separately. LTD insurance will pay 50-60% of lost income but does not pay for medical expenses. It provides a percentage of your income to cover life expenses while you are away from work. The disability income that you get from workers’ comp offset payments that you get from your LTD insurance policy. Workers’ comp pays all the medical expenses and will help pay lost wages.

Having a long term disability has an enormous impact on your life. From paying the bills to supporting your family, the road to recovery can be long and hard. By contacting an experienced lawyer, you improve your chances at getting your claim approved and the benefits you deserve.