Hello Joan and all you wonderfully helpful people! My husband is still in diagnosis stage but it occurred to me that had he had cancer or something more recognizable he would have been helped by his company of 28 years rather than fired. So I did some checking to find out that his company does have both short term and long term disability for employees who become ill. He was in the process of being written and set up for terminatation when he retired early, but his boss has written me an email (to share with the neurologist) noting that memory loss and cognitive type dysfunction is why they were writing him up.
Bottom line is whether there is a law in effect or in the works that forces companies who fire a person who winds up getting a dimentia diagnosis to put them back on the disability/insurance plans they would have had he had a heart attack/cancer or some other more readily identifyable ilness???
Marise, I'm sorry that your husband was forced to take early retirement. We were going through something similar and took a slightly different route. DH was having some of the same problems you describe and was asked to report to the home office for a meeting because he was being removed from the project he was directing. When his boss called on a Saturday to tell him to report to New Jersey on the following Monday, I panicked and fortunately found someone who could advise us because of her experience in HR. We sent a letter first thing Monday morning via fax stating that he was taking FMLA leave effective immediately due to health reasons. That bought us 12 weeks to get our ducks in a row. After that we did short term disability and after 3 months of not being able to return, he was granted long term disability. There were endless phone calls and doctor verifications and heartless HR letters, but it finally went through. I suspect though that because he took early retirement, he may have missed that window of opportunity. It can be such a mess and I am so grateful for the guidance we got from someone with HR knowledge. HR departments are understandably only watching out for the company and won't offer any help in most cases.
My best guess - and it is a guess - is that his employer's letter may enable him to speed through the social security disability process.
One question - were you paying for the disability insurance through his paycheck or was it the company benefit one? That "might" have some bearing, but you'd need to check with someone way more knowledgeable.
Marise, i dont know how it all works i am not a disability atty -but it may be worth your effort to contact a specialized atty like this and ask this question- depending on how long its been you may have some ability to appeal his dismissal due to his diagnosis. what can you lose? most atty will give you a consultation for free to decide if you have a case. i would if it were me -it will be worth it to fight for those disability long term insurances. divvi
My DH had been teaching for about 3 semesters (with lots of problems) and his contract was not renewed. It wasn't until after he stopped working that a doctor recommended neuro-psych testing and then neurology and diagnosis. His employer did not have short term disability but did have long term disability. The disability plan required an application be filed within 6 months from when you stopped working. So, DH applied and received long term disability from the employer who "fired" him months previously.
Please remember that HR people may or may not know what the "rules" are for the disability plans. Make sure you get a paper copy and read, read, read.
I can agree that HR people don't know the rules for their disability plans. My husband was on short term disability that would be ending Jan. 2009, and would then go to long term disability. His mill was closed at the end of Jan. 2009 and everyone let go. The HR people didn't know if he could keep the long term disability as he would no longer be an employee. Well, the long term disability company told me that his employment had nothing to do with continuation of his benefits. As long as he had become disabled while employed, he would be covered until he turned 65. His benefit has been lowered due to Social Security Disability payments but it is still extra money to us every month.
Most of this advice sounds very positive so hopefully, you've got something to work with. Please, when you speak to someone, document, document, document and follow up with an email to confirm what you believe was said. That turned out to be an important piece of our particular puzzle.