Tilt Table Tests for Long Term Disability

When filing for long term disability, you may consider testing options such as the tilt table test to help bolster your disability claim.  But how do you know if the tilt table test is right for you?

Your insurance company will demand strong medical proof of your inability to work in order to approve your disability benefits.  While this may not be as much of a concern for easily evidenced disabilities, certain conditions are harder to prove than others.  This is where a tilt table test may be beneficial for your disability claim.

The tilt table test results can provide strong evidence of conditions that cause dizziness and/or syncope (the medical term for unexplained fainting).  Below we’ll discuss what the tilt table test is, what it involves, and how it can help get your long term disability claim approved.

Functional Capacity Evaluations For Disability

When you file a long term disability insurance claim or appeal a denial, your insurance company will expect strong evidence supporting the restrictions and limitations your medical condition imposes. More specifically, your insurance company will want to know how your condition prevents you from working the job you had. This is where a Functional Capacity Evaluation (also known as an “FCE”) can be instrumental to receiving your disability benefits.

Below we will answer common questions about undergoing a functional capacity evaluation for a disability claim.

Your client's disability insurance company schedules a Functional Capacity Examination (FCE); what do you do?

This is often a judgment call. On the one hand, an FCE almost always results in a bad result for your client. If your client is able to perform the tasks assigned, the examiner will pronounce that your client is not disabled. If your client is not able to perform the tasks, the examiner will pronounce that your client gave sub-maximal effort. On the other hand, if your client refuses to go to the FCE, the insurer will either terminate your client's benefits for failure to cooperate or will schedule an independent medical examination (IME). An IME is often harder to discredit later than the FCE. FCE's can often be discredited because: the protocol that they apply has not been subjected to peer review; asks claimants to perform tasks that are completely unrelated to their occupations; and are just downright unscientific. It is a great leap in logic to project from the ability to perform certain discrete physical tasks on one or two particular days to the ability to perform a full time occupation (that involves cognitive tasks and time pressures) on a consistent basis day after day.