Disability and Health Insurance Claims Under ERISA

If you missed your deadline to file a claim or appeal your claim denial – you may still be able to take advantage of a temporary extension of those deadlines due to the pending Covid-19 epidemic.

On March 13, 2020, the President declared a state of National Emergency due to the Covid-19 outbreak in the United States.  On May 4, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor and Employee Benefits Security Administration, who regulate most employer-based disability and health insurance claims under ERISA, announced an emergency extension of certain deadlines facing employees with disability or health claims, including deadlines to file initial disability claims and appeals click for text of 2020 DOL Emergency Stay.  Under this emergency stay, your plan administrator (or the insurer) must disregard the period from March 1, 2020, until sixty (60) days after the announced end of the National Emergency or such other date as announced by the Department of Labor, when calculating your deadlines to file new claims or appeals under ERISA benefit plans.  There are, however, important limitations to this extension, such as a one-year cap on the stay period that applies to each claim click to read 2021 Disaster Relief clarification notice. If you believe your claim may be affected by these extensions, contact a disability insurance attorney at Robinson Warncke as soon as possible for more information on the status of the National Emergency and how this emergency stay impacts your specific claim.