Hi there! Appreciate any help with this.
I am taking a short-term disability leave from work. I have been taking approved sick PTO and I am now approved for an unpaid leave of absence starting after this already approved sick leave ends.
We also have a short-term disability insurance policy through Anthem Blue Cross. I have a copy of the full contract and I cannot figure out the policy.
I cannot figure out how many days I have to submit a claim with my doctor's note etc. from the date that I am disabled under the policy.
According to the policy, I have to be considered actively at work (at the time that I file the claim?) and then there is a 7-day elimination period that has to be completed within 10 days.
I have already taken some sick days and now I have this approved leave of absence that starts next week. I don't know if I can just have the date of my claim start from the first day that I was sick and see how Anthem responds?
Also do I need to make sure this is filed before my approved unpaid leave begins during next week?
I am aware that if I do that, they will subtract some of I was paid in PTO from the total amount that they give me in benefits for that time period. The Anthem policy only covers 60% of my base pay.
I was told by HR that I am not eligible for FMLA
So looks like the options are:
– File a claim with Anthem (but what should the claim start date be?)
– Just take the paid sick PTO and then take the unpaid leave
– Keep the sick PTO I have already been paid out and file a claim with New York State for short-term disability (which pays a laughable $170 per week.) But maybe New York State would also subtract any sick PTO I have already been paid…
Appreciate any advice.