Our client was a former Booz Allen Hamilton Senior Systems Engineer / Program Manager, insured by Hartford Life Insurance Company. She was disabled because of Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, autonomic dysfunction, and other debilitating conditions.
Hartford, in terminating her benefits, based its decision on two “paper reviews.” In support of her disability, our client had the fact that she had been paid benefits for 27 months, no evidence that the condition improved, plenty of evidence that the condition worsened, the support of numerous treating physicians, a medication regiment that had been entirely ignored, failed surveillance ordered by the insurer, and even more.
The overall gist of the appeal was that, when her benefits were denied, our client was on IV antibiotics basically constantly. To say she wasn’t disabled was to say she should drive to work, and then work a full day, with an IV hanging out of her arm. It was a preposterous argument which, on appeal, fell flat on its head.
Benefits were promptly reinstated and past due benefits were paid. The total value of the claim was $1,041,423.78