Catching Godzilla early

UnitedHealthcare would, of course, like to see employer groups combine its health insurance with its short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) insurance programs.

At an employer with an integrated medical-disability program, or some other way for the medical and disability plans to communicate, use of FMLA leave “can serve as an ‘early warning’ system to alert employers about an FMLA leave that could eventually turn into a short-term or long-term disability claim,” Poulakos said.

In addition to looking into giving employees who have taken FMLA leave extra attention and support, employers should have ways to do the same for employees who face other complicating issues, such as cases in which the employees has untreated depression or is acting as the primary caregiver for an elderly parent, Poulakos said.

Those kinds of details “are often more difficult to recognize,” Poulakos said. “But the presence of these subjective measures is often a harbinger of an extended disability claim, so it is important for employers and their carriers to recognize them.”

See also:

• Which STD claims turn into LTD claims?
• Disability Insurance Observer: Data
• 4 Fundamentals of Managing Absence and Disability