We were retained by a financial advisor after her long term disability claim was terminated by Mass Mutual. The disability insurance company said the termination of her claim was based on a medical review by doctor who performed Neuropsychological testing. The doctor, an outside consultant to the insurance company, reported that based on the test, her claim was no longer valid, and that she was not continuing to suffer from depression. This was a one-time evaluation from a doctor with no history of either treating or knowing the woman, which is a common strategy used by disability insurance companies to terminate claims.
The woman had been a high functioning financial advisor whose ability to operate at her previous level was greatly diminished due to a series of significant life events which caused her baseline depression to manifest more severely. It prevented her from engaging in the activities of her work, both the day-to-day operational side and the business development and client management aspects.
To combat the determination reached by Mass Mutual, the hired doctor and the evidence developed by Mass Mutual, we engaged an expert to perform a review of the materials and conduct an interview with our client to gain a more comprehensive perspective on the issues.
Following the expert’s review and analysis of materials, client interview and research, including an analysis of the raw data from the cognitive testing, we successfully reversed Mass Mutual’s determination.
We succeeded in demonstrating that contrary to their conclusions, our client had provided appropriate effort during the testing, and that her limitations, as revealed by the testing, were impacting her functionality to such a degree that they prevented her from performing the array of duties which her work required. The accusations of limited effort were overcome, and left Mass Mutual with nothing to defend its position.
Her depression was impacting her energy level, her cognitive ability, and her ability to interact with people, including potential clients. We knew how to demonstrate the powerful connection between her testing limitations, functional deficits, and occupational requirements, which compelled Mass Mutual to appreciate the ongoing nature and severity of our client’s impairment.
Our client is now paid to current status and continues to remain on claim – while she focuses on her recovery.
By engaging and working closely with the appropriate expert to consider the issues and develop the appropriate rebuttal issues, we were able to overcome a case that was presented to us with great challenges.
Our client was wise not to try to overcome this determination on her own, and to allow us to guide her through this challenging legal landscape.