Filing Disability Claim PG2 resident

[MocDoc123]

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Hello,

I would appreciate any direction this forum can provide.

I am a PG2 resident. I recently learned my contract will not be renewed next year. It is official. If I had to loosely sum up what lead to this, it was realizing too late the program and field did not really fit and feeling depressed all the time.

I need to take some time to think about my next step. My question is— I purchased disability insurance through my residency program. It is with Mass Mutual. It does allow claims for mental health issues, but it is limited to two years. If the reason my contract was not renewed was for mental health reasons, eg depression, can I still file a claim or does non renewal of contract disqualify me from filing any claim? If it is the case that I cannot file a claim unless I have a residency position next year, should I cancel my contract now since I am still paying monthly premiums. Thank you.

Kitkat

 

[ThoracicGuy]

Hello,

I would appreciate any direction this forum can provide.

I am a PG2 resident. I recently learned my contract will not be renewed next year. It is official. If I had to loosely sum up what lead to this, it was realizing too late the program and field did not really fit and feeling depressed all the time.

I need to take some time to think about my next step. My question is— I purchased disability insurance through my residency program. It is with Mass Mutual. It does allow claims for mental health issues, but it is limited to two years. If the reason my contract was not renewed was for mental health reasons, eg depression, can I still file a claim or does non renewal of contract disqualify me from filing any claim? If it is the case that I cannot file a claim unless I have a residency position next year, should I cancel my contract now since I am still paying monthly premiums. Thank you.

Kitkat

I think you'd probably have to have documented claims for mental health issues to qualify. I doubt you'll be able to get your program to say you weren't renewed because of mental health.

 

[AdmiralChz]

It does allow claims for mental health issues, but it is limited to two years.

If your insurance is anything like mine, this means you pretty much can’t put in a mental health claim for disability for 2 years.

Also it has to be disability that limits your ability to work in your field (you got specialty-specific insurance, right?). This doesn’t appear to be the case as you are working now and won’t be renewed for next year (you’ll be working up until June 30th when your employment will end). Plus you’ve mentioned you don’t believe you are a good fit for the field.

I’m sorry you’re in this position, but your claim (even if you’ve had the policy for >2 years) is very likely to be denied. You mention your non-renewal was due to mental health reasons, but much more likely is poor performance which you attribute to your mental health. Subtle, but very different as your program clearly does not see your performance improving, even with treatment, to a suitable degree.

 

[rbnsafsadgf]

I would also add that in general, if you are not being renewed for a mental health issue, you should seek an employment lawyer. (Any record of your program telling you this?) And conduct is a legal reason they can terminate you, while a diagnosis or perception of a diagnosis is not. Either way, you should probably be getting advice from those more knowledgeable.