TX. W/C , Employee Paid for long-term disability ins. with benefits package

I’m sorry; I just don’t understand your Q. Some people pay for private long-term disability insurance. If that’s what you have, you should make a claim. Talk to your ins agent about it. If it was an employer plan, talk to the HR department or your former boss about it. If you are talking about Workers comp, go to the state Website at: http://www.tdi.texas.gov/wc/index.html

Generally, long term disability plans pay some percentage of your recent monthly wages. For example, the plan might pay 60% of your average monthly pay based on the five months immediately proceeding when you had to leave work. Many of these plans pay such benefits if you cannot do the work you were doing before you went out on disability for a fixed period, such as 24 or 36 months. Then at that point, the standard changes so that you must be disabled from any work, and the benefit amount may change to some other percentage, reduced amount or whatnot depending on the particulars of your plan. Most of these LTD plans also require you to pursue Social Security Disability benefits, so you might as well go ahead and apply for those tomorrow. In my opinion you should get an attorney as early in the process as possible as there is no fee unless you are awarded benefits (contingency) and the fees are set by Social Security law and would be the same regardless if you hire the attorney the week before your hearing or the day you applied originally. Contact your local or state bar association or NOSSCR to find a Social Security attorney in your area, look for one offering a free no-obligation initial consultation (most do) then meet with one or more and sign up with one you are comfortable with. NOSSCR Lawyer Referral Service - For help in finding attorney representation, contact its lawyer referral service during Eastern business hours: 800-431-2804 http://www.nosscr.org/referral.html Social Security Disability (SSD) is financed with Social Security taxes paid by workers, employers, and self-employed persons. To be eligible for a Social Security benefit, the worker must earn sufficient credits based on taxable work to be "insured" for Social Security purposes. Disability benefits are payable to: blind or disabled workers, their children, widow(er)s, and adults disabled since childhood The worker will get Medicare coverage automatically after receiving disability benefits for two years. The amount of the monthly disability benefit is based on the Social Security earnings record of the insured worker. Social Security reviews cases using the five-step sequential evaluation process to decide is a person is disabled. Here are the 5 questions that make up the sequential evaluation process: (1) Does your impairment keep you from being able to perform a substantial gainful activity (SGA), generally full-time, competitive, work? (2) Is your impairment severe? AND, is your impairment expected to remain severe for at least 12 months? (3) Does your impairment “meet or equal” one of Social Security’s “Listing of Impairments?” A listing of medical conditions, acceptable medical evidence, and the severity necessary for an impairment to be considered disabling. There are separate listings for adults and for children. (4) Does your impairment prevent you from being able to perform any job you performed over the last 15 years which was also a substantial gainful activity? (5) Does your impairment prevent you from being able to perform any other type of work which exists in substantial numbers of the national economy? And, after the favorable decision, almost all LTD plans require the claimant to reimburse the LTD plan with all benefits paid by Social Security to the claimant and any dependents. There are several other benefits to the LTD claimant pursuing a Social Security claim. First, LTD plans that are employer sponsored and paid for results in benefits to the claimant that are taxable. Social Security benefits, however, are generally not taxable or, if taxed because of a spouse’s higher earnings, result in less tax owed by the claimant. Second, most LTD plans do not have annual cost of living inflation adjustment (COLA) provisions: The LTD benefits being paid in year one are the same in year ten. And, most LTD plans only require being repaid at the base rate initially awarded by Social Security.