How does short term disability work?

How does claiming short and long term disability work?

• My doctor has asked me if I've considered going on disability. I have disability insurance at work. My company has over 1000 employees and I've been here for 4 years. I have severe arthritis in both knees that has made walking very difficult and the doctor says I'm too young for knee replacement due to the fact that knee replacements wear out over time and second ones do not go well. I'm only 45. He says if we do it now, I could easily end up in a wheel chair in my 60's. I also have a total of 5 diseases which require frequent doctor visits. I don't know anything about what to expect on how the process works. How do I go about claiming short term and then long term disability at work? What should I expect? Can they fire me once I file? Does it simply start with a letter from my doctor or what? More data-I am a data tech. Much of the time I am at a desk, however, I work in a very large plant that sometimes requires walking to other buildings and climbing flights of stairs. The degree in which the arthritis affects my daily living is to the point I have difficulty standing or walking and that is limited to only a few minutes (less than 10) at a time. Staying on my feet for long or often causes the inflammation to be even worse for days afterwards.

• Answer:

  First of all, you need to read your coverages, to see if you have to be TOTALLY disabled, in order to collect. You also need to figure out if your disability makes you INCAPABLE of working your usual and customary position, and if you have "usual and customary" on your coverage. If you're not planning on going back to work ever, why in the world do you care if they fire you or not? Once your 12 weeks of FMLA are up, they are not required to hold your position. Your doctor would need to certify that you are UNABLE to work. If he certifies that you are permanently and totally disabled, you will then have to apply for SSDI. You need to do that right away, because it can take YEARS to get approved. Once you stop working, after your FMLA is up, your employer no longer provides you with HEALTH INSURANCE coverage. That means, you can keep Cobra for up to 18 months, and then you're completely screwed, until/unless you're willing to pay 102% of the premium out of pocket every month, or you get approved for SSDI and get the automatic Medicare coverage (good luck finding a doctor that takes it). If the ISSUE is being on your feet and walking, maybe the ANSWER is to keep working, and use a wheelchair or scooter AT WORK.