Daily Archives: January 16, 2019

Insurance companies often seek to exclude insureds from coverage through their long-term disability (“LTD”) plans by asserting the pre-existing condition exclusion.  If an applicant for LTD benefits has a non-disabling condition or becomes disabled as a result of a condition that developed after corrective surgery for an unrelated condition, is the applicant excluded from receiving benefits?  In a plaintiff-friendly decision, Hines v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Am., 2018 WL 6599404 (N.D. Ohio Dec. 17, 2018), the court held that the plaintiff-disability claimant could not be excluded from coverage due to a vision disability on either the basis that she had received a diagnosis for a non-disabling condition before she became disabled or that she had developed a new …