Private disability insurance and Crohn's

[divot]

I've had crohn's for 10+ years which has up until 2-3 years ago has been well managed. When I first was diagnosed it was very difficult for them to figure out what I had (12+ months even though i went from 180lbs to 125lbs, had a lot of pain/nausea, etc). As I said, my symptoms have started to come back over the past 2-3 years. Last fall was the worse: I missed around a month of work, lost 30lbs, etc. I feel ok now but still miss work once in a while and am in a competitive industry where I can't keep missing work indefinitely. I may have to have surgery but my doctors are uncertain if it'll help.

What should I be doing at this point in order to set myself up for success if I have to apply for disability benefits? I have two policies currently: one is a group policy that I kept after I left a job a while back that covers a certain amount (plus 3% annual increases) own occupation till 65. The second policy is through my current employer which covers (60% of my base salary) for my own occupation for two years than the standard is if I could work going forward until 65.

Are there any tips of things I should be doing now to document my issues? Like I said my doctors know I have crohn's but they are unable to say for certain that all my issues are due to crohn's 100% because they have a hard time finding active disease. This is consistent with what happened at it's worse 10 years ago. It's hard for me to prove nausea or pain but my CT scan does show some inflammation.

I just don't want to get into the situation where the disability company/companies don't pay if I lose my job due to missing work. Or that they say it's due to anxiety (my doctor thought that anti-anxiety meds might help since I was having issues sleeping due to worrying+the symptoms I mentioned above) which means they will only pay out for 2 years...

Thanks for reading!

 

[shamrock15]

What treatment are you currently receiving? You haven't mentioned, and I do think that is important. It is difficult to know what to recommend without knowing what your current situation, other than the activity is. There is a large difference between being untreated and having problems and currently on meds and having problems. If you are not being treated, get the strongest approach you can - for me biologics were a massive change for the better. If you are being treated, time to start looking at an alternative.

 

[divot]

I've been on remicade for many years (10) According to blood tests i haven't developed antibodies but it's become ineffective as a lot of my symptoms have returned. I may try Humira and/or have part of my intestines removed as a next step. But unless either/both are fully successful I don't know that I can keep doing my "own profession". I work in the financial industry and being away from the markets isn't an option and I've been away from it quite a bit.

 

[shamrock15]

I may be in a similar position. Remicade for 9 years and it seems to be losing some effectiveness right now. Not enough to cost me time, but it is getting pretty tough to stay sharp in front of my class of students. I know if my case I will always ask for some form of maintenance medication even if I ever have to undergo surgery again. If you have any way of getting them to move you to humira or another before the surgery, try it.

Would you not be able to do at least some of your work online instead of out of an office? I confess to not knowing how all sectors of the finance world work.

 

[divot]

Sorry to hear that you're going through the same thing.

It would be very hard to work from home given that I work on a trading floor which is set up that way due to the need for us to have interaction. I'm also very fatigued regardless of where I am.

I have an MRI to in a week and then they are going to discuss moving to Humira and/or meet with a surgeon. I guess I just worry that any other issues will cost me my job (might be too late at this point). Guess I'm fortunate that the one disability policy is written for my own occupation until 65. Just wondering if anyone has experience with these policies. I assu e the insurance company would try to get out of paying especially since my crohns is hard to pin down.

 

[MGunnell1]

I feel sorry for your suffering.