Yeah so in my case, they denied my application for LTD initially. Then we appealed the denial with the same undeniable objective evidence that I couldn't do my job due to illness and they claimed that the laptop with my case on it was stolen and there was no backup. My lawyer pushed them on it to produce a police report and they never did. This was clearly a stalling tactic and an effort to get me to re-submit all of my data all over again. It was also likely a HIPPA violation. Once their time ran out and they hadn't rendered a decision, we threatened suit against them in federal court and they then approved me. I later learned from someone else that this same insurance company had used the "stolen" laptop delay excuse before.
The irony is, because this is an ERISA case they don't even pay me that much money. SSDI pays at least half of their liability.
Every couple years since then, I have to "re-prove" to them I am still sick at great expense. Their game is to try to run up the doctors bills and legal fees on your end so you will give up.
I was 25 years old when I first got sick and had to deal with this. Had I not had my parents step in and help me financially, I probably would have been on the street and/or dead. To this day I am ashamed that I had to take money from my parents. I worked hard in college and had great job/supported myself as soon as I graduated. The whole thing makes my blood boil.
I can tell you this though, after watching me go through this ordeal, every one of my friends/family opted into disability policies and/or bought private policies. The non ERISA policies are not subject to income tax because they are paid with post tax dollars (vs ERISA plans which are often paid by the employer as a benefit). Also, if you are in your twenties, its often very inexpensive to buy "upgraded" coverage through your employer's plan. In my case, my base plan covered 50% of my salary. Had I paid $4 more per paycheck, I would have had 70% coverage (tens of thousands of dollars more in my case). But hey, who thinks you will ever get sick when you are 25?