My wife worked as a computer programmer for almost 30 years. She was taken out of work by her doctor due to symptoms of repetitive stress disorder and other diagnoses including heart trouble from stress. Despite repeated notes from three doctors saying she was not fit to perform her duties CIGNA has continually denied her short term disability claim. First they said that there was no objective evidence that she was unable to perform her duties (there is nothing in the policy that states there has to be objective evidence) and then when a complaint was filed with the Texas insurance commission they change their story and said she didn't fit the definition for short term disability. When she went and had an objective test done just to appease them and she was diagnosed with a separate but related ailment they said that this was a new diagnosis and didn't qualify. We hired a lawyer who has not been able to help. There appears to be no oversight of insurance companies and they can pretty much do as they want and deny and stall for as long as they want until they starve you out and your only option is to return to work injured. What happens then is that the persons illness/injuries get worse and they end up going out on either social security disability and/or medicare/medicaid. Who do you think pays for that? The taxpayer i.E. You and me. So insurance company executives are sitting there getting rich with their companies making billions (for them to fight new healthcare legislation) and individuals that have paid for insurance their whole lives are hurting and bankrupt. We have written letters to everyone from the media to our legislators to our insurance commissioners and no one cares. Private insurance companies need to be taken out of health care for anything to change in this country. Health care is completely broken.
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