Self funded disability policies

[Guest cjmazur]

Does anyone here have any insight to establishing and admisistrating a Self funded disability policy?

[Peter Gulia]

I wrote one last summer.

An important step is to be extra careful in how the summary plan description states the benefit. Assume that a court would find that a participant may rely on the SPD. And assume that a court might construe every ambiguity in a way that finds a benefit.

Focus on building a solid and clear claims procedure, and do it understanding that the employer has conflicting interests between deciding benefits and preserving its money.

[Guest fender5150]

Is anyone aware of a service that provides affordable prototypes for benefits like this?

[J Simmons]

Don't know of a source for affordable prototypes for self-funded disability benefits.

However, I would begin drafting with a disability insurance policy as the model (making sure that I get permission from the copyright holder first).

This is the type of benefit you might want to have the plan's governing document and SPD be one and the same document.

[Peter Gulia]

Using the summary plan description as the only writing that states the plan is the method that I've used.

An employer that bears the financial consequences of a mistake or ambiguity in the written plan might consider that using a "prototype" provider leaves it with no one to share the consequences of inexactness.