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COLUMN SOCIAL SECURITY & DISABILITY

#TOODISABLEDFORFACEBOOK

USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO

DENY DISABILITY BENEFITS

Andrew November

PWFCO_logo1.pdf 1 9/8/2016 4:41:05 PM
n March 10, 2019, The New Berryhill, Acting Commissioner of Social most often insurance companies, that use
York Times released an Security, explaining their concerns on using social media to deny disability benefits. This,
article titled “On Disability Facebook and other social media to help identify however, has been relatively under-covered
and on Facebook? Uncle people who claim Social Security disability and is a widespread problem leading to
O Sam Wants to Watch What benefits without actually being disabled. unsubstantiated denials of disability benefits.
You Post.” The post generated thousands of While the attention generated by The First, let us revisit the basics of LTD.
comments as well as shares and attracted the New York Times and members of the Senate Approximately 1/3 of US employers offer LTD
attention of Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. produced much needed sunshine on a insurance coverage as an employee benefit. There
Indeed, Senators Sherrod Brown and Bob Casey troubling issue, this is not new. In fact, Long are more than 50 different insurance companies
(D-PA), drafted a letter to Mick Mulvaney, Term Disability (LTD) beneficiaries have long that sell LTD policies and the policy language
Office of Management and Budget, and Nancy been scrutinized by claims administrators, and terms for eligibility are often different in
every policy. If a claimant obtained their LTD
coverage through their employer as an employee
benefit, then the policy is usually governed by
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act
(ERISA). The general rule is that if an individual
purchased their LTD coverage from anyone
other than their employer, then the policy is
almost always governed by state law. In a state
law claim, a disability insurance company’s
failure to pay LTD benefits gives the claimant the
right to file a breach of contract cause of action.
At the end of the day, whether it is the Social
Security Administration, or a private entity
claims administrator, our clients must now fear
that their social media will be used to determine
their disability. So that begs the obvious
question, what does disability look like?
Let’s be honest with each other. People
APPELLATE ADVOCACY post their best selves on social media. Rather,
people post what they want their friends to
Chances are your opponent‘s legal team includes a believe their life looks like. Whether we’re
certified appellate specialist, yours should too. assisted with the use of a filter or a hashtag
like #blessed #honored #lucky #grateful, our
posts reflect how we want our social network
For over twenty years our firm has been assisting attorneys
with civil, criminal, and administrative appeals and trial court to perceive us. Recent research supports my
motion practice across Ohio as well as in the federal system. contention. In 2017, 1,787 adults ages 19 to
Estimates available upon request. 32 were asked about social media use and
depression. According to Brian Primack,
50 Public Square, Suite 1910, Cleveland, OH 44113 M.D., Director of the Center for Research
OFFICE: (216) 344-9393 E-MAIL: pwf@pwfco.com on Media, Technology and Health at the
University of Pittsburgh, a co-author of the
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