Comments on: Facebook Strikes Again

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 22:30:58 +0000

It is possible that there was more involved in the decision to cancel the claimant’s benefits than simply a flawed assumption that she must no longer be depressed because she was on vacation in Florida. Many disability policies include a clause that requires claimants to report to the insurer if they will be away from their place of residence for a certain period of time. My guess is that the intent is to monitor the activities of claimants as a way to identify potential fraud. Rightly or wrongly, if this stipulation is part of the contract, and the claimant breached that clause by not notifying her adjudicator, the insurer may legitimately be correct in discontinuing benefits. Having said that, if they did so with no investigation, which appears to be the case, this seems very wrong indeed.

I have multiple sclerosis and am in the process of opening an LTD claim as my short term employer disability benefits expire in the next few months. My symptoms wax and wane throughout the day/week/month. Some days it is a struggle to get out of bed. Showering and other basic hygiene and primping require enormous effort. Concentration can be so poor I can barely read a magazine article. Vision may be double. Painful hands and clumsiness make it very difficult to keyboard. Lassitude may have me back in bed by mid-afternoon. Other days I feel relatively well; can get up at a decent hour (usually after 10 -12 hours sleep); shower, dress, etc in half the time it takes on my bad days. I can drive, run errands, do household chores, read a book, fix dinner, etc. Problem is, there is no way to predict which days will be good ones and which ones will not. I can certainly travel having this disease, though have to accommodate by doing things such as: purchasing expensive first class seats for more comfort, to stretch my painful limbs and to increase the likelihood of getting some sleep on the plane; booking 1 – 2 extra days at the start and end of a trip to allow for adjusting to jet lag, getting much needed rest, etc. Many days I need to sit out activities and rest at the hotel while travelling companions go off having fun. Sometimes it means passing on a lovely dinner out because I overdid it during the day.

If I posted pics of such a vacation it would be easy for anyone, including an insurance company, to assume I am well, completely fine, and fit for work; without understanding the unpredictability of MS and its many symptoms, nor understanding the lengths and expense I go to in order to be able to travel and not jeopardize my health. Because one can travel with MS, depression, or a whole host of other invisible diseases, does not necessarily mean they are fit to perform work, either their own job or any other, even with accommodation by their employer. There is too much at stake for insurers to simply cancel benefits based on scant, secondhand information, especially when the source of such information is the internet, without discussing with the claimant and fully understanding the situation in order to make an informewd decision regarding continued eigibility for benefits.

By: Katy

Katy — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 19:05:01 +0000

I’m addicted to Facebook! But recently I’ve heard several news about the dangerous of social media sites. Regarding this story I think that the insurance companies are trying to use every resource to try to discover fraud… in this it seems a too excessive!!

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 22:55:57 +0000

Well… whether or not was she feeling better the issue here is the way people are exposing themselves with Facebook and other social media sites. I’m not “social media” savvy and while I see the advantages (like find lost friends…) and don’t understand why people over-expose their lives. There’s always a huge debate on privacy but a big % of our population just don’t care about it when they are posting on Facebook or tweeting…

By: karen b

karen b — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 23:59:49 +0000

Depression is a serious illness usually requiring treatment by a physician and/or psychologist adequately trained to help the patient reach and maintain remission. The insurance company that denied this patient’s RIGHT to continue treatment based upon a photo is ridiculous and unfair. So…if a diabetic is photographed with an ice cream sundae or a cardiac patient is tagged with of photo of himself/herself putting salt on french fries, does the insurance company also curtail the benefits to these patients? Perhaps the insurance companies are losing sight of who is ACTUALLY paying them-THE PATIENT!!!

By: Yvonne Morell

Yvonne Morell — Thu, 13 May 2010 19:10:16 +0000

I agree–The fraud visited on Insurance companies who pay disability claims must pay attention to the receivers of those funds. I guess the issue is “how best to do that?” There is room for thinking of the most judicious way to do that and e-mail is not a good communication tool. FACEBOOK is gonna get you! It’s better than the NYT.

By: kimberly

kimberly — Wed, 12 May 2010 01:31:48 +0000

man hey she is talking which is way better then sitting at home and string at the wall or sleeping cause all that does is lead to bad thoughts and all. i have bi-polar manic and ptsd sometimes it is good to have support that what all docs susggest you need a support system. you go girl get them

By: tina dugan

tina dugan — Mon, 10 May 2010 03:09:37 +0000

dr phil, i have major depression and am in an art therapy program which has been affected by state budget cuts….in the state of arizona….currently controversy state….not only is the immigration issue in the news…what people may not know is that a huge chunk of $ was taken from mental health and alot of people i know cant go to art therapy because they are not ‘titlle 19′ this state is wanting money for a fence for the boarder and we are broke and the emphasis of this state is not on its citizens but on the politicians pockets…..mental health is more important than immigration and an indivuduals health is more important than $$…..i bet my comment doesnt make sense but this world doesnt and i am tired of it…i am tired of $ being more important than people…..it just makes an illness worse.

By: Harold Braswell

Harold Braswell — Tue, 04 May 2010 01:55:50 +0000

5/3/2010
Years ago I took a course in log cabin building in the North West. Now this teacher was paranoid. He said something that I thought was really funny. He said that just because you are paranoid does not mean that they are not out to get you. Now I guess that was a way of him calling attention to his problem. That is sort of analogous to having your disability taken away even though you are disabled with depression. They will take it away if they can.

haroldb

By: Tammie

Tammie — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:26:01 +0000

I, too, suffer from major depression. Although I am unable to work, I have never even considered applying for social security or government benifets of any type. I’m not sure why, I just never really thought of it as an option. However, while, my Dr also encourages me to try & “get out” I can not even imagine being able to go to the beach, much less a club. My depression has been drug resistant, maybe hers is not. Either way, the insurance company still should have spoken with her Dr before making a decision to cancel her benefits!!

By: Coni Thompson

Coni Thompson — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:10:48 +0000

I have had a similar experience with a work comp claim that tried to say I was not injured when I was on a 10 pound weight limit and they photographed me using an 8 pound electric chain saw on tree branches. No one tried to put forth the truth so I had to bring the electric chain saw into court with the owner and the medications I was on to prove to the judge that I was within my limiitations.