Many public and private programs exist to provide short-term disability benefits to injured and ill workers in Ohio. These include
Consulting with an experienced and knowledgeable Cleveland disability attorney before completing any applications and submitting supporting documents represents an important step toward reducing the likelihood of a claim denial. Being ineligible for the program applied to is the number one cause of short-term disability denials. Closely following that reason for short-term disability denial is filing incomplete paperwork. A dedicated disability lawyer in Cleveland will also be able to assist with collecting and submitting all the required forms, reports, and medical records.
Sadly, a large percentage of correctly filed and properly completed first-time applications for short-term disability receive rejections. When an injury or illness results from an incident at work, the applicant’s employee can contest a workers’ comp claim. The usual contention is that the claimant inflicted the harm on themselves by disregarding safety rules.
Insurance companies will often attempt to challenge a claimant’s inability work while recovering. Programs like OPERS have broad latitude for arguing that settling a short-term disability claim is the responsibility of some other program.
The good news in such situations is that disability benefit applicants have undeniable rights to appeal claim denials. The exact processes for appealing differ from program to program, but taking four actions is always necessary:
The Cleveland short-term disability lawyers with Agee Clymer, Mitchell and Portman welcome opportunities to advise and assist hurt and sick workers. For help with your case, call us at (800) 678-3318 or reach out to us online. An initial consultation will cost you nothing.