Short-Term Disability Coverage for Pregnancy-Related Conditions in Florida

What Disability Coverage is Available for Pregnant Employees in Florida?

What short-term disability coverage is available in Florida for employees who are pregnant or dealing with a pregnancy-related medical condition? And when will an employee need the assistance of a St. Petersburg disability attorney to obtain that coverage?

According to the Council for Disability Income Awareness, pregnancy is the number one reason for short-term disability insurance claims in the United States. Approximately 22 percent of short-term disability claims are prompted by pregnancy.

Few Florida employers provide paid time off for expectant mothers. Only four states require employers to offer paid family leave, and Florida is not among those states. What are the options for short-term disability coverage when an employee becomes pregnant in Florida?

What is the Family and Medical Leave Act?

Many employed pregnant women in Florida use a combination of short-term disability, personal days, sick leave, and vacation time, along with the twelve weeks provided by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), to get time off with a newborn.

The FMLA lets eligible workers take up to twelve weeks a year for medical reasons, including pregnancy and time with a new child. FMLA leave is unpaid, but employees may use their paid time off, sick leave, or vacation time to receive pay during those twelve weeks.

The FMLA applies to all employers in the U.S. with at least fifty employees for at least twenty weeks in the current or previous year. Pregnant employees may use their FMLA leave for prenatal care and for periods when they cannot work due to a pregnancy-related condition.

What is the Pregnancy Discrimination Act?

The federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits employer discrimination based on pregnancy in areas that include hiring, terminations, job assignments, promotions, pay, training, fringe benefits, and layoffs, as well as leave and health insurance.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act doesn’t require an employer to provide pregnancy or family leave, but if a Florida employer offers leave for other temporary disabilities, it must make the same leave available to its pregnant employees.

Should You Purchase Short-Term Disability Insurance?

In Florida, short-term disability insurance can replace part of your income if you can’t work due to pregnancy or a pregnancy-related condition. Florida does not require employers to provide short-term disability pay and doesn’t have state-sponsored short-term disability coverage.

A small number of Florida employers provide short-term disability insurance that may be applied to pregnancy, but if an employer does not offer this benefit, an employee should consider purchasing a short-term disability policy from a private insurance carrier.

How Do Short-Term Disability Policies Cover Pregnancy-Related Conditions?

However, most short-term disability policies cover only serious conditions or incapacity related to pregnancy. You may be eligible for short-term disability benefits if you are unable to work due to pregnancy-related complications such as gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, or premature labor.

Short-term disability policies usually cover six to eight weeks and typically pay fifty to one hundred percent of the employee’s salary.

Working women in Florida should obtain short-term disability coverage before they become pregnant because pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition. The exclusion period for short-term disability policies is typically one year.

What Should You Know About Filing a Short-Term Disability Claim?

When you submit a claim for short-term disability insurance based on your pregnancy, you will need medical documentation that includes your due date, your restrictions, and your expected length of time away from work.

It usually takes insurance companies several weeks to review these claims, so you should submit your claim well in advance of the date when you will need the benefit.

When Should You Contact a Disability Attorney?

If your Florida employer improperly denies your FMLA leave or discriminates against you due to your pregnancy, contact a St. Petersburg disability lawyer immediately. A disability lawyer can determine what steps to take to protect your rights.

Insurance companies can deny short-term disability claims for pregnancy for a variety of reasons. If you become pregnant during the exclusion period or deliver within a certain number of months of the policy’s effective date, the insurance company will reject your claim.

If you fail to visit your doctor as scheduled or follow your doctor’s orders, your claim may also be rejected.

If Your Claim is Denied, What Are Your Options?

If your short-term disability claim is denied, you can appeal the decision directly through the insurance company’s internal appeals process, but you should have the assistance of a St. Petersburg disability attorney who will advise you and help you gather the documents you need for an appeal.

An insurance company usually takes approximately thirty days to decide on an internal appeal. Some of these appeals are successful, but if your appeal fails, your disability attorney may recommend taking the matter to arbitration, mediation, or court.

An experienced St. Petersburg disability lawyer will provide the personalized legal advice you need and, depending on the details of your short-term, pregnancy-based disability claim and its rejection, will develop a strategy for challenging the denial of your claim.

You should be advised and represented by a Florida attorney with considerable experience in employment law and disability claims. In the Tampa Bay area, that attorney is Nancy L. Cavey.

Take Your Disability Case to the Law Office of Nancy L. Cavey

From her St. Petersburg law office, attorney Nancy L. Cavey focuses on disability law and helps disabled clients, including pregnant clients. Her legal team works on behalf of disabled and pregnant clients across the Tampa Bay region and throughout Florida.

If your employer improperly denies your FMLA leave or discriminates against you because you’re pregnant, or if a short-term disability claim based on your pregnancy is denied, contact the Law Office of Nancy L. Cavey immediately by calling 727-47  7-3263.

Our legal team has four decades of experience resolving the most complicated disability claims and cases. If you need disability benefits because of your pregnancy, call us at once and let our legal team work for you. Your first case evaluation with the Law Office of Nancy L. Cavey is provided with no cost or obligation.