Behavioral Activation Program

Disability Insurance
1

Hi all!

I’ve been on LTD for 3,5 years. Recently my case manager sent a request to my psychiatrist saying that they want me to do behavioral activation program that they will pay for. My psychiatrist is going to write that I still have symptoms/limitations and not ready to return to work.

My questions are:

  1. What is this program about?
  2. Does it mean that I need to go to work after the program?
  3. Will they cut off my benefits if my psychiatrist refuses to sent me to the program?
  4. What is the best thing to do in this situation?

Thank you for your time!

2
  1. No idea, Google it
  2. Not necessarily. Their psychiatrist might agree with yours. Even if they disagree, you might need to go to court or you might not.
  3. Same answer as #3
  4. See what happens after the behavioral activation program. If your psychiatrist says you can’t do the program then you need a letter from them stating that.
3

How did this go, Elaine?

4

Well, my psychiatrist said not to panic. She was going to write that I wasn’t
ready for the program. I thought the insurer was determined to cut me off. Then my psychiatrist let them know that I still had a lot of symptoms. They accepted that but now my case manager calls more often.

And this is my fault because I thought I would try volunteering to overcome some of my symptoms. I told that to my doctor and then she mentioned that to my insurer. But when I looked for volunteering opportunities I realized that volunteering had a lot of requirements that I wasn’t ready for. It raised reg flags with my insurer. They decided to use this against me. Before that she used to call me once a year now she calls probably every month or two.

And with all this coronavirus mess I am not sure what they are going to do next. I don’t know if they work from home, if they continue to do what they used to do or just waiting for all these measures to be eased.

So if you are on disability it’s better to lay low. Too much initiative may get a lot of attention from them.

2 Likes
5

I agree.
I could visualize them salivating when I asked something.
I had to explain why it was too limited to be a job

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6

What do you mean by “was too limited to be a job”?

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7

LOL that’s true. My case manager even engaged their medical team just because I said something that caused doubt.

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8

I had to explain all the limitations of doing it and why there were too many limitations that it couldn’t translate into being work.

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9

Sorry, I am late to this thread. Behavioural Activation is usually done by a psychologist. I guess you may have to pay for this yourself if your case manager request you do this in the future.

10

We are past that for now. The insurer pays for this program. It was their idea so they should pay lol

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11

I find it totally disheartening that some volunteering could be interpreted as an ability to work sustainably. I am sorry you went through this. We scrape by and want to give back a little but can’t even do that! Demoralizing

12

Thank you. Obviously this is how they see it. Live and learn. It is better to lay low, continue with your regular treatment and not raise red flags.

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13

Yep.
What she said. :slight_smile:

1 Like