I think the 90 day timer starts the day you become ill or injured.... You can receive LTD benefits at the 90 day point... up until then you rely on your sick bank. Which means you burn through about 240 hrs. of bank.... It may be an option to save some bank time if you have more than that available to you....I would be curious as to how many here have 240 or greater in their bank.
If you do burn to zero then you face the dilemma of returning from a long term illness with no sick bank to fall back on.