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Doctor With MS Wins Suit For Disability Benefits Against Hartford Life

A doctor with multiple sclerosis and other medical problems has won her suit for disability insurance benefits against Hartford Life.  The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Hartford Life was arbitrary and caprcious in denying the doctor's claim for benefits.  Bloom v. Hartford Life, No 07-6374 (July 21, 2009). 

Robert L. Abell, a lawyer in Lexington, Kentucky, represents individuals on their claims for disability insurance benefits. 

Disability Insurer Tainted Claims Process By Providing Negative, Unfounded Information About Claimant to Medical Records Reviewer

Disability insurance claimants are often told by disability insurance companies that their claim has been reviewed by an "independent" medical expert. Of course, these "independent" experts are not truly independent and the United States Supreme Court has ruled that their financial relationship (and its duration) can be considered in assessing the insurance company's claims process.  Another factor that indicates bias in the claims process is where the insurance company "give[s] information to regular independent contractor-consultants that portrays the claimant in a negative light" the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled in Sherry DeLisle v. Sun Life Assurance Company, No. 08-1142 (March 4, 2009).