Ltd coverage
 

It seems pretty expensive compared to alpa sponsored plans.
What does everyone think?
Use the company plan or alpa's ?

USE THE COMPANY PLAN!

Sorry for yelling!

The plan is inexpensive, especially considering the hurdle required to receive a benefit.

The easiest way to think of this is that if you use the company plan, you are paying 35% of the cost.

If you use any other plan, you will pay 100% of the cost.

Our coverage is better.

Hope that helps

listen to flap

I can't imagine how you came to that conclusion..... But the company LTD is LIGHT YEARS better and cheaper than ALPA's. IMHO, the LTD is one of the single best items in the contract, and I HAPPILY pay the premium every month.

Is it the company plan or the UPA negotiated plan?

As a Delta guy, I don't know anything about the UAL plan. But, unfortunately I know a little about the ALPA plan.
1. 1 year waiting period from when you got sick.

2. Max of 3 years of payments.

3. Must be applied for within 90 days of getting sick. Yes, even though there is a year waiting period.

My advise, get both.

I just came back from 3.5 years of LTD. No complaints, works as advertised.

Buy it! If you don't it is tough to get it later.

Can you share what the company plan is ??

Thanks for the info.. Looks like the company plan then.



Pays 50% of pay (monthly amount = 42.75 * hourly rate of pay)up to $8000/mo.

Company pays 65% of cost, pilot pays 35%

90 day waiting period reduced to 60 if occupational injury. Could be longer depending on how much sick time is in your bank

WS01,

Here is a sound piece of advice. In 2005 I had a neck injury that required extensive surgery and wound up keeping off the line for the better part of year. At the time we did not have LTD at UAL.

The event just about bankrupted me. Once you are out of sick list and vacation they would put you on Short term disability for three months back then. I spent about 6 months with no pay. At the time I was a 320 F/O making little money and had little to no savings.

The last thing you need when seriously sick or injured is the stress of trying to come up with enough money every week to feed your kids. You've got enough to worry about between trying to heal, medical appointments, PT, not being able to drive, ETC, ETC....

LTD is one of the finest enhancements to come along for this pilot group possibly ever! Don't waste it! My advice is that you buy the maximum amount of ALPA STD and do the company LTD. If you've ever priced outside private LTD insurance you'll find that this is dirt cheap and that buying outside LTD for Pilot is almost impossible unless you are willing to pay big bucks for small benefits.

Do the company LTD it's foolish not to.

When we (LUAL) only had Alpa LTD available, I bought it. As soon as this new LTD plan was offered, I dropped the Alpa LTD insurance like a used prophylactic...

IMHO the only folks who should not take this new LTD plan are those who have enough in their sick bank to take them to normal retirement age if they happen to have something happen to cause them to lose their medical happen.

why not keep both?

For my own situation, I would qualify for the max company benefit which is 8K/ month tax free. The Alpa insurance is expensive.

If, I would be not able to live very comfortably on the company LTD, I would most likely supplement with the Alpa insurance.

Again, this is my own situation...

This is true. The LTD benefit takes A LOT of stress off. If you ever decline it good luck getting back on it. As Hoss says it is money well spent.

Good advice, thanks.
I wouldn't go without ltd, I was just wondering which is a better value.

Don't forget the LTD is tax free money

the LTD plan I got (company's) 60% of pay(no tax) after 4 moths off. with my sick and vacation time I can get by for 6 months with no problems and I might still have a bout 1 mo of sick time left before having to burn any LTD. Had I had this when I lost My Medical I might still be flying. I needed 6 months to recover and I didn't have it. I recommend you don't short change yours for a matter of a few bucks. Buy a few fewer Starbucks Latte's and you'll never know the difference. Always overspend to be SAFE is my recomendation.

Positively the most grown up, useful thread I've ever read on this board. Thanks for the insights. I'm coming back in January and, thanks to this discussion, will definitely sign up for the company LTD. Hadn't given it any thought as I've been kicked in the a$$ with good health my entire life, but your anecdotes were just the wakeup call I needed.

Like others stated before do not drop the company LTD plan.

There is a much better LTD coverage offered by Lloyds of London, way cheaper than ALPA and Harvey Watt for the exact same coverage. pilotdisability.com. Guy that owns the company is a United pilot also.

All pilots are automatically enrolled in the LTD (no health screen, etc), you specifically have to opt out. If you do opt out, there are many hurdles to getting it back.

They want to make sure that if you opt out that there is no confusion about what you're doing, no excuses later on when you need it, and no getting back into the program without the medical screen of you and your relatives (high bar). They'll have signature confirmations that you definitively knew what you were doing and that you chose to opt out. IOW don't opt out!

Right on bro!

I also was at the peak of health, climbing mountains, working out four to five days a week, running, you know the drill. That was all awesome until the MRI results came back after a little slippy whoops and subsequent fall that landed me just right on the top of my head at just the right angle.

Hairline fracture in Cervical vertebrae number five and three destroyed discs that had to be removed. Titanium plates to hold it all together ETC ETC....

You never know when that good health a$$ kicking is going to turn into a bad health a$$ kicking. One second you are Mr. Universe the next second you're in the ICU wondering if you'll ever be able to walk again. Shiz happens.. It's better to have it and not need it.:)

Every UAL pilot should sign up for this. I can't imagine the reason for needing another $150 per month at the risk of not having $8,000 per month. If a pilot's budget is that tight, maybe they should look at some of the things they are spending money on and make some adjustments to their lifestyle.

This.

I do not think the UPA is a "great" contract but, IMHO, the LTD plan is one of the few true wins. Since everybody is automatically enrolled and one has to actually actively opt-out, there's no excuse not to have coverage.

Also, the UAL plan could last a pilot a working career of benefits as there is no expiration limit other than death, retirement, or regaining a medical. This alone is a HUGE benefit compared to many other plans.

Sorry to interrupt all of your crowing about your LTD Plan, and I agree that it is a necessary and important benefit, but:

Delta pilots pay 0% for similar coverage

American pilots pay 0% for similar coverage

Alaska pilots pay 0% for similar coverage

I suppose that this could be considered a "win" if you started out with no coverage, but IMHO, you still have a ways to go to return to industry standard.

Not to mention, do you accrue 401(k) benefits while you are out on Long Term Sick? Delta and Alaska pilots do. American didn't need to until their pension plan was frozen and I would be surprised if this was not on the radar for their future.

My purpose is not flame here, but to educate. These are some things to think about for your next PWA.

Good luck, we're all counting on you!

And I'd rather be at United than those other airlines. Plus we have things in our contract for sure that they don't.

Ahhhh grasshopper, the devil is in the details.

You pay nothing, we pay 35%.

If a Delta pilot accepts another job, then the benefit is offset. Not at UAL.

PBGC not an offset.

SS family disabilty not an offset.

No DC plan contributions.

You too, need to look at the total picture.

It wasn't crowing.

The new LTD is one of the non-compesation sections of the UPA with an unambiguous improvement from we (L-UAL) had during the BK contract.

That's it.

(I hope you are also educating the DAL and AMR groups in areas of improvement for their "PWAs". ;) )

With open enrollment and having the UPA LTD.... what other LTD options are pilots choosing? TIA

Derek we have a long way to go.

Mostly because no matter what contract we have people will say to vote no and then cherry pick the things that other airlines have better and then only talk about those things. Even Contract 2000 had no voters. In retrospect, if we would have voted that down, we would have never got a contract.

SSDI IS an offset on the UCH plan -SS family disability doesn't apply to me since my wife works and my children are grown. I had to apply for SSDI after being out on LTD for 8 months. Still waiting for a response from SS, but if rejected, the UCH plan administrator (Harvey Watt) will 'assist' me in reapplying for SSDI. While UCH's LTD is self-insurance, it's administered by Harvey Watt. There is zero benefit to me for applying for SSDI; it will be taxable income.

The calculation for LTD is 50% x 85,5 hrs x your hourly pay at time of LTD. Max $8K/mo. This is post-tax payments. Since it's post-tax payments, it should be enough of an offset from your lost income.

The thing that I would like is DC plan contributions, but that's not something one needs to get through dark times after losing your medical.


As for the larger discussion, anyone who drops LTD is insane.


My story: I'm a LUAL double furloughee (over 50 years old) who went to work at LCAL Mar 12. My doctor ordered me a PSA test Nov 12. Numbers came in just below 10. My AF retirement physical in Aug 10, my PSA was ~1.7.

Had biopsy mid-Dec and it came back positive for prostate cancer. Went on LTD in late Dec.
There is a 90 day waiting period to receive benefits. Burned up all of my sick leave and (was forwarded earned) vacation time in Jan. Went without pay Feb and Mar (mil retiree; easy enough for me to survive since I've always lived below my means). I had >125 hrs of sick leave from LUAL but they wouldn't let me burn it.

Since April, I have been receiving LTD pay of just under $5K/mo. All post-tax.

Had my prostate removed in May and had to deal with incontinence (still some issues there). Currently undergoing radiation treatment since cancer was found 'at the margins' when the biopsy was done on my prostate. Won't be done with radiation treatment until ~Christmas.

I will have to wait 6 weeks after completion of radiation treatment, with a zero PSA, prior to applying for a Special Issuance medical. I've been told it takes ~6 weeks to get a Special Issuance. So I won't be back until at least mid-March. That's 11 1/2 months of $5K/mo; $57,500 post-tax.

Just to toss in some more math. Assuming that the SS admin approves my SSDI application, I'll get ~$2200/mo taxable which will be subtracted from my LTD pay. I'm in the 28% marginal tax bracket so that would net me $1584/mo after taxes. $1584 x 11.5 = $18,216.00

So if I get SSDI, I will have received $57,500 - $18,216 = $39,214 in post-tax benefits from LTD. I can't currently open my previous pay statements on Flying Together (UCH website) but I think I paid just over $100/mo post-tax monthly for LTD. Even if SSDI pays me, I will never pay back the amount I will have received from LTD benefits before I retire.

I bank all of my LTD payments every month into savings, but if you need your paycheck to live on, you are insane if you do not have LTD.

I hope this clarifies anyone's decision on whether or not to keep company LTD. Read section 24-H of the contract so that you understand fully the LTD plan. Our current LTD plan's not perfect but it's a must-have.

Andy,
I hope everything is good news from here on out.
Josh

Thanks; I'll be fine. Everyone encounters less than ideal circumstances from time to time in their lives. There are others who have faced much more adversity than me.

If anyone is balking at paying for LTD, keep in mind that it's not much different in price than what you pay for auto insurance.

Great points and hope you have a smooth recovery and get back to work soon.

In a situation like yours, all you should be thinking about is getting better. There are a number of pilots on disability with life threatening diseases or long waits for re-certification.

Under our plan, a pilot can get another job or work in the family business without working for free, by having their disability offset dollar for dollar.

I have a good friend at Delta that has a small disability and cannot get a side job or he loses the benefit due to offset. He does get a DC contribution, but he would rather be able to work on the side a little due to his meager disability payment.

Our plan does have the SSDI offset to keep plan expenses lower. Realistically, most LTD recipients won't qualify. The 8 month/SSDI issue is being addressed and will be an issue only if there is a reasonable chance of success.

The family disability is a huge deal for our pilots with young children. Being able to get that benefit in addition to the LTD benefit makes a substantial difference.

Good luck and hope you are back soon.