Long Term Disability Claims Attorneys for Stroke-Related Impairments
Are you temporarily or permanently disabled as a result of a stroke? Has this stroke-related impairment prevented you from returning to your job, resulting in a loss of income? If so, you might be entitled to long-term disability benefits. The long-term disability claims attorneys at Capitan Law can file a claim for you or help you appeal a denied claim to get you the benefits you deserve.
Any stroke victim can suffer a stroke-related impairment due to the stroke’s effect on the brain. The nature and severity of your disability depend on which part of the brain was affected, as well as the amount of time your blood flow to your cells was disrupted.
You shouldn’t have to struggle financially as well as physically after your stroke. Call Capitan Law today at (267) 419-7888 for a free consultation about getting benefits.
Causes of Strokes and Types of Stroke-Related Impairments
Sometimes strokes happen for seemingly no reason. Other times they occur if you are in a high-risk category, perhaps due to family history, age, an underlying medical condition, or even from certain medications you are taking.
The primary types of strokes include:
- Ischemic stroke – the most common, caused by blood clots.
- Hemorrhagic stroke – weak blood vessels leak or break. Less common than ischemic.
- Transient ischemic attack (TIA) – transient means temporary, so this type of stroke is often considered a “warning” because victims suffer a temporary blood supply disruption to the brain, with minor symptoms that are usually temporary.
A stroke can affect one of three areas of your brain that control various bodily functions: the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brain stem.
If the stroke affected your cerebrum, your ability to perform certain functions the same as prior to the stroke may be impaired, negatively affecting your ability to fully care for yourself. Some of these impairments include:
- Eating, swallowing, and speaking
- Bodily movements
- Controlling your emotions
- Impaired eyesight
- Memory, judgment, and other cognitive skills
- Sexual function
- Confusion about where you are
- Loss of bladder and bowel control
Since you have two hemispheres, or sides, to your cerebrum, the impairment may affect just the left or right side of your body. For example, if the right side of your cerebrum experienced a blood flow disruption, it would affect some functions on your left side. Similarly, if the blood flow interruption occurred on the left side, the impairments would show up on your right side. Injuring the left side of your brain, for example, can affect your ability to read, write, perform mathematical calculations or analyses. This could severely impact your ability to work, and you should be compensated for lost wages.
Damage to your cerebellum can severely affect your balance. You are likely to experience nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and headaches. This type of stroke, called a cerebellar stroke or infarct, are not very common, but because the symptoms can be commonly confused with other conditions, the mortality or death rate is higher than it should be given how often these types of strokes occur.
Since the brain stem controls many of our bodily functions, strokes that damage this area of the brain can be very severe and can even result in coma or death.
Available Benefits from Long Term Disability Insurance
Long-term stroke-related impairments can severely affect your ability to work. If this happened to you, you may be able to claim benefits from your employer’s disability insurance policy if you are disabled for six months or more. This can compensate you for a portion or all of your lost wages, depending on the policy terms.
If the insurance company approves your claim, you can expect your compensation to be between 60-80 percent of your wages (after taxes). However, you will have to go through a waiting period, also called an elimination period, before you receive your first payment. The better and more expensive the policy, the shorter the elimination period, which can be anywhere from 30 days to a year. The average waiting period is 90 days.
The amount of time during which you receive the benefits depends on the policy terms and your injuries. You could get payments for two years, until you turn 65, or even for life if your stroke-related impairment permanently disables you so that you cannot work again.
How to Handle a Denied Long Term Disability Claim
The insurance company will not make it easy for you to receive benefits. They may try to claim, for example, that you had a pre-existing medical condition that led to the stroke. If your initial claim is denied, do not waste any additional time; you should immediately call Capitan Law to hire a qualified disability attorney with experience in handling disability insurance appeals.
The appeals process is extremely specific and must be done in accordance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA. Your appeal must be filed within 180 days from the date of your denial letter and submitted with new evidence that the insurance company reviews before they issue a final decision. This new evidence can be statements from family and co-workers, work experts, medical doctors, and any additional medical records.
We have done this many times for our clients. We also know what statements will be the most beneficial to your appeal and where to get them. You should not have to be bothered with all of this legwork and negotiation while you are still suffering from your stroke-related impairment.
If the insurance company denies our appeal, we will confer with you and may decide to file a lawsuit against them on your behalf.
Contact Capitan Law for a Free Consultation
When you hire the attorneys at Capitan Law to stand up for you against the big insurance companies, you will pay no money upfront. We don’t get paid until or unless we get long-term disability benefits for you to compensate for your lost wages. Don’t wait another day. Call us at (267) 419-7888 to get your long-term disability benefits for your stroke-related impairment.
