Many individuals with chronic permanent medical conditions reach a level of treatment that is palliative, that will not improve their symptoms or effect their prognosis. Continuing to visit a medical provider to monitor your condition that does not provide any medical benefit may seem pointless, and can use up valuable time and money resources. The disabled may reduce the frequency of medical visits, especially when the provider advises that no treatment is necessary. Nonetheless, claimants on long-term disability must fulfill the burden of proof showing that they remain disabled over time. Such a requirement includes furnishing continuing proof of disability, such as medical notes or disability forms signed by a current treating medical provider.
The incompatibility of these two situations clash when the insurer to your disability claim requires “appropriate treatment” for the disabling condition in order to continue the claim. The recent court decision in Griffin v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., 898 F.3d 371 (4th Cir. 2018) makes clear that continuing medical visits are necessary. Griffin stopped working due to pain from a herniated disc and saw his medical provider from September 2011 to June 2013. Since there was o feasible medical treatment to improve his condition, he stopped active treatment. Griffin explained to Hartford that he was unable to afford continuing visits to his medical provider, yet Hartford still required that a physician remark on functionality in order to continue paying Griffen long-term disability benefits. Since no treating physician could speak confidently on Griffin’s current disability the court upheld Hartford’s denial of Griffin’s long-term disability claim despite his contention that he remained disabled.
I advise all clients experiencing a chronic medical condition to remain under the care of a physician with at least quarterly visits, even if the physician maintains that the condition remains unchanged. Clients should have disability claim forms completed by their treating provider and keep up to date with any necessary claim materials, so that disability is continuously supported. While it may seem unnecessary to spend resources on visiting a provider when no tangible benefit comes from doing so, previous cases such as Griffin v. Hartford Life show that courts are likely to view, as insurance companies do, a lack of continuing medical history as congruent with improvement in one’s condition or absence of disability altogether.