Originally Posted by
InTrail
Unless you are disabled and unable to work. Remember though it doesnt require you to be a dumbass, just no other skills. I suppose that if you are in your first year pay the field is widened for a simple loss of your medical and otherwise capable.
This is not the interpretation I got straight from the R&I committee.
LTD pays for 24 months (after a 90 day waiting period. Hope you have 216 hours in your sick bank) and the only way you can keep getting the benefit payment after 24 months is if you can be defined by Social Security Administration as disabled. There are plenty of situations where you lose your medical but the SSA won't define you as disabled. No medical and bye bye LTD at 24months.
MAX pay is $5000 for FOs and $10000 for CAs if they participate in the buy up. If on the rare chance you can get defined by the SSA as disabled at the 24 month mark to keep getting paid they will reduce your benefit by the amount you get from social security.
Plain and simple: the plan needs to have a higher benefit amount. Qualifying needs to be based on not holding a first class medical. The only way for it to stop paying you is you get your first class back or you turn 65 years old.
Any contract that does not have this I will vote no to. It does not matter what the rest of the contract says if you don't have a medical and cannot work. Young or old you can lose your medical at your next exam without warning. Are we willing to vote for a contract that doesn't insure a multimillion dollar career? I'm not!