USAA - anyone denied disability?

I was advised by my physicians to stop working in the fall of 2007. I did so, anticipating being out on short term disability followed by long term disability. My FMLA ran out before they'd made a decision on my disability. I had to take a loan against my SIP, just to get by.

Once FMLA ran out, I was contacted by a manager to question when I would be returning to work, but I advised I had no return date as my doctor was putting me through the paces, trying to ascertain what diagnosis would be found. (I didn't have a diagnosis at first, only situations which made it dangerous for me to drive to work, impossible to talk on the phone for long or frequent conversations, etc.

I appealed the denial, which was also denied. Then I appealed to the plan administrator who, after a year of reviews to reach that point, granted me 4 weeks (3 paid) of disability because of a surgery that I'd had within 6 weeks of going out. Everything else was denied.

The best feedback I received came to me with the final denial: instead of saying she was trying to determine what was causing me to have so many problems and that she didn't feel it was safe for me to attempt to work until it was determined, the nurse practitioner I was seeing said I was going to have too many follow up medical appointments and that I was on too many medications to be a productive employee. Great to know, right? Wrong. At the time I was told that, I had no appeals left.

Even though they knew something was going on with me that prevented me from working, I was denied my disability benefit because of how the practioner chose to word the documentation.

Do you know of anyone else with a similar situation? I would love to hear about it!

Wow, I am so sorry to hear all of that is going on in your life! It is sad how people are really treated....people that have given their lives to this place. I haven't had the exact same situation per se, but I know in my heart from experience and others that have disabilities that we are not wanted. They will try and crush your self-worth so much and make your life so miserable that you will want to leave. Once you leave, they win.

Thanks!

After I was out of FMLA, my manager fired me. I wound up having to convert my SIP loan into a withdrawal, then the same with my pension. I was certain I'd be approved on the appeal, after all, I had my nurse practitioner, my endocrinologist, my hematologist and a geneticist all agreeing that I needed to stop working. It was denied in August of last year, and by that time, my SIP and penion had run out (you don't get much of it anyway when you take it prior to 59 1/2.) We had my husband's income, but it was only half of what we'd been getting when I was working, and we had the bills that reflected that level of lifestyle, not one of less than half! We've lost our boat, our house, our credit and our good name and I've lost my retirement and life insurance. My health is such that I can't possibly qualify for life insurance from anyone, even if we could afford it, which we can't. I have an 11 year old son. If anything happens to me, I can't begin to know what it will do to my husband's ability to care for our son, knowing we don't even have the ability to bury me!