iam am on ltd, for an occupational needle stick from a know hiv + patient. aetna disibility has now told me that as of 5/2003, the definition of disibilty changes, to being disabled,and not able to work any kind of job. i have paid into this plan for years and never used it, now they can not wait to get rid of me. can they do this? i awit your written reply. and thankyou for your time.

mary

It depends on the terms of the disability policy. The most common definitions of disability under disability policies are: (1) disabled from your own occupation; (2) disabled from any occupation that you are reasonably qualified for; and (3) disabled from your own occupation for a period of time and then from any occupation thereafter. From your description of what has happened, it sounds like your LTD policy had a provision that specifies disabled from your own occupation for a period of time and then from any occupation thereafter. If this is the case, although you might not be able to work in your prior profession, it might be determined that you could work at another type of job. If your LTD policy has a provision as described in (3) above, they might be justified in terminationg your benefits.