Denial of Long Term Disability

By kimberly315 Friday, February 03, 2012

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I am a 56 year old female who started having migraines 3 years ago at menopause. To date, there has been no successful treatment for my migraines, which has caused me to be unable to work as a management consultant for the past 10 months. I've tried multiple drug combinations, acupunture, chiropratic, and 3 different headache specialists.

I have been denied disability benefits (initial application and first appeal) from a private insurance carrier due to "no objective finding" to prove that I have migraines. We all know that there is no lab test for migraines.

I looking for a fellow migraineur who has been successful in obtaining disability from either a private insurance carrier or SSD. Any helpful hints would be very appreciated!

Wishing you all a migraine free day!

Kimberly

Comments (9) | Add comment

Nancy Harris Bonk, Health Guide

2/ 7/12 8:19pm

Hello, and welcome to HealthCentral's Migraine Community!

I'm glad you've found our site. I hope you are able to get some good, helpful information here. I'm sorry to hear you are suffering so right now, it is no fun to be in pain.

You've mentioned you've worked with three different "headache specialists." If I may just say a word about neurologists who call themselves "headache specialists." Neurologists may be fine doctors, but have a hard time being experts in one area. This is because they treat so many conditions like MS, epilepsy and stroke. A Migraine specialist is just that, an expert who treats one condition, all day every day, Migraines and headache disorders. And, there are only 290 board certified doctors in headache medicine in the United States. So maybe the doctors you've seen are truly experts. I know how daunting it is to see yet another doctor, but it is really important, as you know, to have an accurate diagnosis. When you get a chance, take a look at article Migraine and Headache Specialists - What's So Special? If you need help finding a Migraine specialist, check our listing of Patient Recommended Migraine and Headache Specialists.

As far as Migraine and menopause go it is really a tough call. No two women seem to be alike when it comes to either of these. We have a good question in our Ask the Clinician section that discusses the Role of Hormones in Migraines.

As far as disability goes, it is very common to be turned down the first time for SSDI. However, I don't know much about private insurance and their practices. We do have some information I hope you find useful in these links:

Need to Apply for Disability? Help Your Doctor Help You and

Disability Benefits - SSI and SSDI.

Thank you for creating a SharePost. SharePosts are a form of blogging, and there are many things you can do with them. You can share an experience, suggest something that's helped you, use SharePosts as a Migraine and headache journal, and many other things.

We also have a discussion forum that you may want to check out. Especially if you have questions or are looking for information, you may find the interaction on the forum to be quite helpful. To get to the forum, just look for the orange box marked "Manage" and click on the Migraine Forums link. Because our forums are maintained by a third party, you'll need to register for the forum. You can use the same information you used to create your community log-in if you like. If you want to go directly to the forum, you can click HERE.

Along with your personal "My Home" page and the discussion forum, you'll find links to a great deal of helpful information on the main page of our site, http://www.MyMigraineConnection.com. Under the Find, Manage, and Connect tabs at the top of each page, you'll find a wealth of information - educational articles, tips, quizzes, workbooks, support and advocacy information, and more.

Do you have questions about Migraine? There are three ways to get answers - through our Ask the Clinician column, in our community Question and Answer Section, or through our forum. Just go to our Migraine Answers page HERE.

Our email newsletter will help you stay up-to-date on Migraine and headache news and new information published on HealthCentral's MigraineCommunity. To receive our newsletter, click the "Sign up now!" link in the navigation bar across the top of our site pages or simply click HERE.

Welcome again,

Nancy Bonk
HealthCentral's Migraine Community Manager

PS: If you receive this message from more than one of us, please excuse the overlap. Thanks!

Hcampbell64

2/ 9/12 12:52pm

Try getting an attorney who specializes in disability claims or go on to the website www.disabilitydigest.com. They will get your contact information and have one of their advocates call you and help you out. I hope this helps.

kimberly315

2/ 9/12 1:16pm

Thank you for the link. It's very important that we educate ourselves as consumers.

I have an attorney who specializes in disability claims who is very knowledgable in the process but has never handled a migraine disability case. The private insurance companies are known for dragging out the process and settling right before trial. Migraine disability is tough as there is no test to prove we all have disabling migraines.

Here's wising you a migraine free day,

Kimberly

Hcampbell64

2/ 9/12 2:33pm

You are welcome Kimberly. I have Migraines, Fibromyalgia, 3 Bulging Discs in my neck and Carpal Tunnel in both hands. I am probably going to have as much of a fight to get Social Security Disability as you have had. I am doing the advocate before the attorney.

2/ 9/12 2:33pm

2/ 9/12 2:33pm

2/ 9/12 2:34pm

2/ 9/12 5:00pm

You can get SSDI, even though migraine is not on their list of covered disabilities, if your symptoms are so severe that you would be unable to hold any job. My husband was able to get an award on this basis, but we did use an attorney. We had to wait until the first denial before the attorney could start to represent us. There were more denials and then there was to be a hearing. However after seeing our evidence the judge pre-approved him. The attorney fees are paid directly to the attorney from social security.

A helpful place to learn about disability insurance and migraines is Linda Nee's blog http://lindanee.wordpress.com/. She was a claims agent and is now an advocate. There is a wealth of knowledge in her blog. If you decide to sue the private company for the long term disability you are entitled to, look for an attorney who is experienced with this kind of litigation and has already won cases against your insurance company. We found one through a combination of google searches and recommendations from other attorneys.

kimberly315

2/ 9/12 6:51pm

Thank you for the link. This is exactly the kind of information I'm looking for.

My attorney does have experience with both disability claims for private insurance and SSD, but has not handled a migraine case. She has recommended that I file for SSD without her assistance, while we continue to fight the private insurance carrier. The link will be very helpful in educating me.

Here's wishing you a migraine free day!

Kimberly

Denial of Long Term Disability

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