We’ve made it easier for short- and long-term disability plan customers to make the most of their benefits.
Members of groups with two to five employees no longer need to submit an Evidence of Insurability (EOI) form to receive their full plan benefit amount, unless they miss their group’s enrollment window. All short- and long-term disability coverage is now guaranteed issue for them.
We’ve also improved the way we handle late entrants for voluntary short-term disability. Members of those groups with pre-existing condition limitations will no longer need to fill out an EOI form to receive their full plan benefit amount, even if they miss their group’s enrollment window. Only employees who elect coverage above the guaranteed issue limit will need to fill out the form, which we will send them.
If a group does not have the pre-existing condition limitation, late entrants will also need to submit an EOI form and be medically underwritten, regardless of the coverage amount. The pre-existing condition limitation is a standard part of all voluntary short-term disability plans. Underwriting must approve all requests for voluntary short-term disability plans that do not have the limitation as custom contracts.
Employees should still enroll during the group’s initial or annual enrollment period when possible.
For more information, please contact your sales representative.
Life and Disability products are underwritten by Anthem Life & Disability Insurance Company, an affiliate of Empire HealthChoice Assurance, Inc. Independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Anthem is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc.
Life insurance benefits provided under Certificate Form Number LBO A NY 0105 C REV 0209. Disability insurance benefits provided under Certificate Form Number DLS A NY 1113 C. The expected benefit ratio for the Disability policies is 60% for groups of less than 50 lives, and 65% for groups of 50 or more lives. This ratio is the portion of future premiums which the company expects to return as benefits, when averaged over all people with this policy. This policy provides disability income insurance only. It does NOT provide basic hospital, basic medical or major medical insurance as defined by the New York State Department of Financial Services.