Short Term Disability

Hi @macastronomer, I’m tagging fellow members @kelloggma @lynnryan @tempiej @jd44204 and @nant who have experience with short term disability and long COVID.

I wonder if this blog post from Mayo Clinic Post COVID experts might be helpful for your conversations with your employer?
- Navigating Return to Work with Long COVID https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/post-covid-recovery/newsfeed-post/navigating-return-to-work-with-long-covid/

I only used my short term disability for six months. So I am not sure the law. However, I would assume by the name alone it is meant to have a limited time. I would see if you can find the law around that. You may need to convert to disability.

It sounds like you are using flexible STD, since you are still able to some work. From my understanding it is based on what your doctors say, and HR decides. Unfortunately with my symptoms I wasn’t able to work at all, so went from STD to LTD, and was just approved for Social Security Disability after 2 years. At the end of the day, you know your body and limitations the best. Best of luck to you.

Did your pcp help you with the paperwork? Any tips on getting approved?

My supervisor was/is not happy that I work remotely but I am entitled to ADA accommodations. You are correct that it is HR and your doctor who determine your need for STD, not your supervisor. I believe the supervisor can get in trouble if they attempt to push you to stop using STD. I would chat with your HR person about this.

I am getting worse. I have had long COVID for close to 4 years now. I called an attorney for a consultation about starting down the STD -LTD and SSD road. I have so many health issues and medicine works sometimes and sometimes it does not. I would strongly advise anyone who wants to get SSD to find a good attorney to assist with the process from the start. The attorney should only get paid if you get disability and they take up to 25% of the amount paid but there is a cap of the amount they can take, I think it is $7200. It can take up to 2 years to get approved but I believe you then get a lump sum payment of retroactive payments for 6 or 12 months of time. I would suggest that you go to the Social Security website and look up information about applying for SSD. I would research which of your symptoms qualify. The attorney said it is hard to get SSD for long COVID. The thing is, Long COVID isn't a health issue it is all the health issues we have that were triggered by having COVID. I have POTS, Neuropathy, CRPS, Gastroparesis and am developing auto immune issues. I see an orthopedic next week about my knees because I try to control my falls when I am blacking out from POTS. I do take medicine and wear an abdominal binder but sometimes I still black out and I fall for other reasons. This is such a mess. When you are ready to apply, make sure you have ALL of your medical records whether they state there is an issue and I am going to ask my Rheumatologist and the Johns Hopkins Long COVID clinic to write letters in addition to the records. Good luck.

Hello LynnRyan - Did you use an attorney or file on your own. Can I ask what health issues you have and were used to determine your eligibility?

I did use an attorney. I got denied by myself the first time, then got an attorney to help with appeal. He then requested an in person hearing with judge to appeal. Backlog was huge since they were just digging themselves out of Covid. Went back and forth with questions and documentation, and finally was approved, without going to court. Whole process took about 2 years, but much of that was early Covid. I think getting an attorney is anyone’s best bet, cause they deal with them all the time. And they are required my Medicare to charge a flat fee, like $3500, and they don’t get that unless you are approved. Bonus is you get SS disability back paid till when you first got sick.

Another key was getting officially diagnosed with LC, And getting a couple of doctors, and an occupational therapist write a letter saying you’re no longer able to work.

All my issues are neurological. My vision was impacted with me only able to work on electronics for a short time or I get dizzy and nauseous with stabbing pain in my eyes. I’ve also been diagnosed with Central Sensitization Syndrome where I get overloaded with too much going on, i.e, sound (restaurant), vision, (I can only drive back roads and can’t listen to radio in car anymore. All this creates extreme anxiety, and I have to remove myself from the situation. I’m also dizzy and off balance a lot. It also gave me fibromyalgia, so live with fatigue and pain most days. I’m sure I’m missing some, but that gives you the idea.

I hope this helps. Sorry so long, but it definitely has been a long, tough journey. Good luck and happy to help with any other questions you may have.

Hello,

Thank you so much. This really helps. I was planning to get my doctors to write letters, knowing that it helped makes feel more positive about doing so.

I hope that you are doing as well as you can and really appreciate everything you told me.

Good Luck! And don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions. We are all in this together!

Thank you so much! This makes me so nervous. I keep losing myself in bits and pieces. But I want the best quality of life I can have and right now that means admitting to myself how debilitating it is to keep working. I have developed CRPS in my hands and it so painful to type and I work remotely on a laptop. The more pain the more exhaustion. Sorry, I know I am whining. Thank you again and we are definitely all in this together.