When the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) speaks, we listen. A recent article published online reports a study found about 30% of all individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 experienced acute kidney injury compared with patients infected with pneumonia before the pandemic, in a two-year follow up period. This was not a small study. 134,565 people with COVID-19 and 35,987 people with pneumonia were studied. The decline in kidney function was worse for those who had been hospitalized.
The article encourages people who were hospitalized with severe cases of COVID-19 or those who experienced bad cases of COVID-19 should ask their treating physicians to monitor their kidney function to allow for early diagnosis and management of any chronic kidney disease.
COVID-19 has been associated with kidney injury previously, but this study underscores the long-term impact of COVID-19 on health issues.
Our office receives calls regularly from people who had COVID and are suffering from the long-term effects. We are seeing long term disability insurance companies respond to COVID disability claims in much the same way they have responded to disabilities like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as well as Fibromyalgia and Epstein Barr. disease.
People who live with these diseases are particularly at risk of having their claim denied. The symptoms are subjective and can be difficult to prove to an insurance company. Telling your doctor you have pain throughout your body and are suffering will not get your claim paid. The long term disability insurance company wants to see a lab result or a diagnostic image demonstrating your disability. The problem is, with Long COVID as well as any of the aforementioned disabling conditions, there isn’t always a lab test or x-ray to show what you are feeling.
What can you do to protect a Long COVID Claim?
If you need to file a long-term disability insurance claim, don’t try to do it on your own. These companies have endless resources and it’s easy for them to deny a claim. You want an experienced disability insurance attorney on your side – one who is knowledgeable and knows how to manage this process. Jason Newfield has been described by his clients as compassionate and aggressive at the same time. After more than twenty years representing clients whose long-term disability insurance claims have been denied, he knows how the LTD companies work and what it takes to win a claim.
A Long-COVID claim requires extensive documentation and objective tests. No matter how good your treating physician is, they don’t know about the LTD minefields you need to navigate. It’s not their job. They are focused on treating you, while Jason’s focus is on tests used to provide evidence of your disability.
How to prepare for a conversation with Jason Newfield?
All you need to prepare for a conversation is to have a copy of your policy. That’s it. You can expect to be asked questions about your disability and the policy. During the course of the conversation Jason will be able to give you an idea of what you can expect from the insurance company.
Why should you call before filing a Long COVID claim?
Jason believes it’s far better to prepare for a Long COVID claim with the help of an experienced long term disability insurance attorney than to file a claim and hope all goes well. The reasons are simple:
- Preparing a claim with the help of an attorney means your documents will be complete, which is a common mistake made by claimants.
- Jason will work with your doctors to ensure the right information is presented in the correct manner with your claim.
- If you need more objective evidence of your claim, Jason will have you undergo the correct tests. Tests may include cardiac testing, blood tests, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing to evaluate post-exertional malaise (PEM), among others.
- Your statement of disability will be prepared to withstand challenges from the insurance company.
- If an interview is required, Jason will prepare you for the tricky questions used to try to discredit your claim.
- The insurance company will treat your claim differently when Jason Newfield is involved with the claim.
Winning a long COVID disability claim isn’t easy. Being disabled with brain fog, difficult focusing on tasks, headache, fatigue, and other impairments is not the time to take on a massive corporation whose sole interest is to deter you from fighting back for your claim. This is why many people have relied on Jason Newfield to have their claims prepared and when needed, to fight back against the insurance companies.
