Trump Hurt Disabled Workers

It has been well known for many years that ERISA fails to protect workers adequately. For example, see my March 30, 2017 post.

To try to level the playing field somewhat, last year, on December 16, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) announced new rules to strengthen protections for workers who file claims for disability benefits under their employers’ group disability insurance plans. The new rules were designed to ensure that disability claimants would receive a full and fair review of their claims. The DOL said that the new rules would help many disabled individuals avoid financial and emotional hardship by ensuring that they receive benefits that otherwise might have been denied by plan administrators, without the fuller protections provided by this final regulation. The new rules were supposed to go into effect January 1, 2018.

The DOL just announced that it would not put the new rules into effect.  The disability insurance companies are crying that the new rules would cost them more money and increase litigation. In other words, the insurance companies are complaining that if disabled claimants have to be treated more fairly, then the disability insurers will have to pay claims that they currently evade by treating claimants unfairly. The Obama Administration rejected the complaints of the multi-billion dollar disability insurance companies in favor of workers who have no income due to their impairments. President Trump issued Executive Order 13777 that stops the new rules from going into effect on New Years.