Managing your Long-Term Disability (LTD) application while planning a vacation can be overwhelming. To maximize your time away without jeopardising your disability benefits and help stay in compliance, concise planning and consulting with a seasoned long term disability legal team is a good idea before you start your vacation. Here, learn more about your rights and how to secure your LTD benefits, minimize risk exposure, avoid legal entanglement, and enjoy your well-deserved time off.

Know Your Limits

Whether traveling domestically or internationally, it is critical to verify that any travel plans do not conflict with the requirements of maintaining your benefits and coverage. A comprehensive review of your LTD healthcare and policy guidelines will reveal travel restrictions related to disability benefits, which cover issues such as travel duration and activities, as well as required avoidance of specific risk factors and environments. Suspension or termination of disability benefits may be the result of failure to comply with such requirements.

 

Look To the Experts

Before jeopardizing your Long-Term Disability benefits, discuss your specific case and travel plans with these experts.

Healthcare Provider

Maintaining communication with your healthcare provider about your vacation plans and actively seeking their feedback while strictly following medical treatments during your trip serves as evidence of your ongoing disability status. A vacation that interrupts treatment continuity or causes a recovery setback may lead to difficulties in maintaining eligibility for long-term disability benefits.

Keeping your healthcare provider informed regarding your proposed travel plans will not only guarantee having the best possible advice at your disposal for safeguarding your health, but can also lead to them being an advocate if any questions arise from the insurer. Not following medical advice for your condition might result in your LTD carrier denying or restricting your benefits.

Disability Claim Administrator

Transparency is the best policy when it comes to your proposed vacation plans and your LTD coverage. Even without having specific questions regarding policy guidelines and restrictions, reaching out to a disability claim administrator will add an extra layer of clarity in how certain activities may be viewed by your insurance provider.

If the vacation itself does not align with the stated reason for being on long-term disability, this might prompt red flags, and an investigation or diversion can follow. For example, in a situation where a claimant has a bad back injury but is participating in extreme physical activity on vacation, this may call into question their status for LTD benefits.

Long Term Disability Lawyer

Proactively protecting your long-term disability coverage to avoid benefit interruption or denial can best be achieved by contacting an experienced long-term disability benefits lawyer to afford personalised legal advice tailored to your particular circumstances. Reaching out during the planning phase of your travel arrangements to circumvent unfair benefit denials and protracted proceedings or litigation can avoid these unnecessary pitfalls and claim payment delays after the fact.

Journaling   

Documenting your vacation and travel through journaling can provide the required evidence relating to what activities, with your disability in mind, you are confined to, while highlighting your adherence to medical advice and regimen. In the event of an inquiry or potential denial of claim continuance, this information can be utilised to substantiate the impact your disability has on your daily life. Noting your pain level, how your disability impacted travel companions, friends, and family, can all be factored in when insurers seek to deny a claim due to vacation travel.

The Hazards of Social Media or TMI (Too Much Information) 

With Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms so deeply integrated into our culture and daily lives, posting vacation pictures and status updates can be second nature. Unfortunately, disability insurance carriers are all too willing to become your new followers, using social media accounts to monitor and gather evidence in the pursuit of denying or ending disability payments to protect their bottom line. Posts, comments, or other content that even remotely suggests you are more active than outlined in your claim can put at risk the continuance of your payments.

Online monitoring is used in almost every long-term disability claim and is an extremely common practice. Just as important is the recognition that although insurance companies have the right to conduct surveillance, you also have rights. Working with an LTD lawyer will protect you and your claim from unfair practices and penalties.

Staying vigilant regarding social media posts is not only paramount for you: loved ones and friends should be cautioned against tagging or mentioning you in their posts, also. Managing your exposure via social media is imperative with insurers searching for conflicting information to halt or terminate benefits.

LTD and Travel Checklist

As you begin the process of planning your trip, use this checklist to ensure your vacation doesn’t compromise your LTD benefits:

  1. Garner necessary approvals for travel from your healthcare provider as well as your insurance company, keeping both updated regarding any changes to your plans or itinerary and activities. Open lines of communication translate to fewer misunderstandings, questioning of benefit validity, and LTD claim denial. Obtaining approval in writing from your healthcare provider should be your first step in vacation planning.
  2. Inclusivity counts. Consulting with your primary physician is a given but do not overlook other healthcare professionals included in your treatment plan when requesting approvals or guidance, including physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, etc.
  3. Review all policy documents and guidelines, noting restrictions pertaining to activities, environments, and duration/location. Compile a list of any legal queries, concerns or clarification to be shared and discussed with a long-term disability lawyer.
  4. Consult the experts, including healthcare providers, disability claim administrators, and long-term disability lawyers, during the travel planning phase to remain compliant and avoid benefit interruption or cancellation is key. If in doubt, request feedback on any questions you may have relating to activities or policy guidelines from your disability claim administrator and/or healthcare provider.
  5. Limit social media exposure during vacation/travel, as some providers may utilise posts or shared information to dispute or challenge a claim. In this case, less is more.
  6. Deadlines matter. Complete all required paperwork and any examinations before departure. Omitting important information or filing paperwork late can result in the derailment of your claim.
  7. Practice common sense and take precautions when traveling on LTD.  Familiarise yourself with available medical facilities at your travel destination, ensure you have an adequate supply of required medications to last the vacation duration, or verify local medication availability. Confirm with your health care provider any telehealth options if you will be away for an extended period of time, as relying solely on destination medical care can put you and your claim at risk. Taking into account all of these considerations will not only promote best outcomes regarding your health but will also speak to the impact this disability has on your life, including vacation travel.    
  8. Stay current. With an ever evolving and volatile insurance market travel restrictions, guidelines and requirements continue to change. What may have been a given in the beginning planning phases of your travel arrangements could well have changed. Stay up-to-date and confirm details periodically throughout the planning life cycle.
  9. Be proactive, not reactive. If you are informed that your claim is under investigation or is being suspended due to your travel or vacation activities, immediately contact an LTD lawyer. Provide your counsel with any communication from the insurance company, as well as paperwork associated with the claim itself, including medical records and healthcare provider correspondence/approvals.

If you are on LTD disability and want to go on vacation, schedule a consultation in advance to discuss your vacation plans. You don’t want to put your LTD benefits in jeopardy. Call Nova Injury Law today or use our contact form to schedule a consultation!

For more info on LTD law, check out our previous post: The Ultimate Guide to Long Term Disability Deductions