What to Do If Cigna Denied Your Long-Term Disability Claim

Attorneys for Long-Term Disability Denials by Cigna

Long-Term Disability (LTD) policies are unlike most other kinds of insurance. If your employer purchased a group disability policy from Cigna or its affiliate LINA (Life Insurance Company of North America), your LTD policy is likely governed by a confusing, complicated federal law known as ERISA.  ERISA gives insurance companies like Cigna broad discretion to deny claims. 

If you believe your long-term disability was wrongfully denied by Cigna, our long-term disability lawyer in Kansas City can help.  We know the special rules that apply to these claims and the best strategy to fight back to get benefits reinstated. 

About Cigna Long-Term Disability Policies

Cigna and LINA are both are a part of the Cigna Corporation, a global insurance company operating. Cigna boasts over a hundred million customers and operations in over 30 different countries. 

Most of Cigna’s disability policies are sold in group plans to large, medium and small businesses, and not as individual policies.  This means the vast majority of Cigna policies are governed by ERISA, a complex federal law that benefits the insurance industry.

In 2013, Cigna and LINA settled a court case that showed how their company had been improperly denying their patient’s claims and terminating their benefits. This was supposedly improved, but we have found that this issue has continued. 

Why Did Cigna Deny My Long-Term Disability Claim?

Some claims are denied for good reasons, but many are not. Some denials are flat-out wrong.  After all, insurance companies are in business to make a profit, and one way to do that is to pay less in claims. 

Here are some reasons Cigna may have denied you long-term disability benefits:

1.  They don’t believe you are really sick or injured.

Insurance companies like Cigna often hire their own doctors to review your medical records and refute your diagnosis.  These independent medical reviews are not actually that independent.  

2.  They think you can still work.

Insurance companies like Cigna use all sorts of tactics to try to prove that claimants like you can still work. They might misclassify your job duties or may claim that you can work in different job altogether. Regardless, the goal is the same—to deny your claim.

3.  They don’t think you will appeal.

Insurance companies like Cigna are playing a numbers game.  They know that ERISA claims and appeals are complicated and most people won’t fight back. If you do and win, they just have to pay you the same benefits they would have paid in the first place. Cigna can save millions of dollars in claims just by denying claims and hoping claimants walk away.

What to Do After Receiving a Denial Letter from Cigna

If you received a denial letter from Cigna, you should act quickly.  Under ERISA, you must file an administrative appeal before filing a lawsuit.  You usually only have 180 days from the date you received your denial to file your appeal. 

Your appeal must state all the medical and legal reasons why your denial should be overturned.  You must all supporting documentation, including legal arguments, witness testimony, medical records, expert reports, and case citations.  If your case proceeds to litigation, you won’t be able to add more information later so it’s critical that your appeal file be as complete as possible.

Long-term disability appeals are a lot of work, and a small mistake can destroy your claim.  You can download our free LTD appeal guidebook right now to learn more.  Danger: Proceed At Your Own Risk is packed with information to help guide you through the appeal process.  

However, we do not recommend handling the appeal of a Cigna denial without an experienced lawyer.  Even judges agree that ERISA is a “loaded deck” that is too confusing for consumers to navigate on their own.

How Our Long-Term Disability Attorney Can Help After a Cigna Denial

If you have a long-term disability denial from Cigna, here’s what you should do:

1.  Get the information you need so you can be prepared to fight for your disability benefits. We will review your Cigna denial letter for free and provide a strategy on how to fight back.  Remember you only have 180 days to gather and file all information that supports your claim so you need to act fast.

2.  Download our free guide, Danger: Proceed at Your Own Risk, which explains why insurance companies like Cigna deny claims and what you need to know to fight back.

3.  Call us at 816-203-0143.  If your benefits with Cigna have been denied and you already filed an appeal, we can only be able to help if you have a second appeal available to you.  Most policies don’t allow for a second appeal so you shouldn’t risk it by getting this far without an experienced attorney.

Call Our Long-Term Disability Attorney After a Cigna Denial 

If you were wrongfully denied benefits by Cigna, our long-term disability attorney can help - call us at 816-203-0143.  We can provide a free review of your Cigna denial letter and create a strategy for dealing with an appeal or lawsuit to get your long-term disability benefits with Cigna reinstated.