For the purpose of this article, we’re classifying government employees as anyone who works for a municipality, state, or the United States federal government. Another thing to clarify is that we’re talking about government employees with long-term disability insurance policies through a group plan or their employer. We are not talking about plans that were purchased individually by a government employee.
Group benefit plans provided to government employees are very different from any other group benefit plan offered by a private company like AT&T or Verizon because government employee plans are separate from ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income and Securities Act of 1974, which applies to most private company group plans.
When Congress passed ERISA, it realized that many rights were taken away from employees. They didn’t want this law to apply to themselves, so they carved out government employees. That means that government employees are exempt from ERISA, which allows you to bring your claim to state court instead of federal court and affords you many greater protections.
What Government Employees Need To Know About the Differences Between ERISA and State Law Claims
ERISA takes away many rights. You don’t have the right to a jury trial in an ERISA claim. A federal judge will decide your case. In a state law claim, you get to have your claim handled and reviewed by a jury of your peers. Many people don’t like insurance companies, so that could work in your favor.
In an ERISA case, you cannot introduce any new evidence. A federal judge can only look at the evidence in your claim file. You can’t testify, bring in friends, family, or doctors to testify, or introduce any new evidence that wasn’t already in your claim file when the insurance company decided.
In a state law claim, you can do all of those things. You can testify, friends and family can testify, your doctors can testify, and you can introduce new evidence and collateral evidence. There’s a lot more evidence that you can bring into the claim. These differences alone can make a huge and substantial difference in how your case is handled and how the insurance company will look at your claim.
It can sometimes be difficult to determine whether or not ERISA applies to your case. Let’s say, for example, you work for a water utility owned by a municipality or a public college. You may not know whether that’s a private company or a governmental agency. We encourage you to contact a long-term disability attorney in those types of situations.
Get a Free Consultation with a Long-Term Disability Attorney
If you are a government employee and your long-term disability claim has been denied, call us at (888) 321-8131 for a free consultation. If you are applying for benefits, check out our Disability Insurance Appeal Guide.
If you’d like additional written materials, I wrote a book called The Top 10 Mistakes That Will Destroy a Long-Term Disability Claim. Click here to download a copy of my free LTD book.
