Importance of Health Insurance as Part of Long Term Disability

If you are currently receiving long term disability benefits, it is exceedingly important that you have health insurance as well.  The last thing that you will ever want to do is to eradicate your health insurance.  Many times, people make assume that their disability insurance benefits may override having a good health insurance plan or that there is some type of long term disability health insurance.  In reality, if you receive disability benefits, the money from the disability benefit will not cover your health expenses.  It is for this reason that many people opt to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. 

Social Security Benefits and Health Insurance

The thing about Social Security Disability Insurance benefits is that upon qualifying for it, you are eligible for state-wide health insurance which in your situation will either be Medicare or Medicaid.  However, if you do not qualify for the Social Security Disability Insurance, you may still need to retain your current health insurance. 

What Does Disability Insurance Cover?

Disability Insurance does not cover hospital stays, visits, or expenses:

• You will need to retain some sort of health insurance for that. 
• Furthermore, with health insurance you will be able to pay for the services from your attending physician.  You will need to stay in close contact with your physician.  It is he or she that will continue to monitor your disability and provide the insurance company with adequate documentation periodically as to why your disability prevents you from returning to work. 
• Without a good health insurance plan, you will not be able to provide the insurance company with the adequate documentation that it may need. 

Additionally, having health insurance will enable you to fill and receive prescription medications with little or no out-of-pocket expense.  If you are considered disabled by both your physician and your long term disability insurance provider, then the chances are pretty high that you will need to be on medication in order to treat any pain associated with your disability.  If you did not have health insurance, you would be stuck paying for prescription medication at the full price which can be exceedingly expensive.  Having health insurance will help you with paying for prescription medication.  Instead of paying the full price for the medication, you will (depending on your health insurance provider) only be required to pay a meager co-payment which could be under $10 for your medication.

All in all, health insurance and long term disability insurance work together as a team when it comes to a disabled individual.  Without health insurance a person who receives disability benefits would inevitably end up struggling with outrageous medical bills.  Health insurance takes some of the stress off of a disabled individual when it comes to adequate health coverage.

Getting Help

If you have additional questions about what your long term disability will cover, consult with an experienced disability rights attorney who can provide you with more details. Your attorney can give you specific information on any disability benefits to which you are entitled and can help you through the process of applying for benefits and securing coverage.