Disability Denied: Unable To Work, COVID Long Haulers Face Barriers To Benefits

Larry Buhl
April 12, 2023
Copyright © CAPITAL & MAIN 2023.

Marie, who left a corporate job in Missouri after contracting COVID in the first wave and then developing what came to be known as long COVID, received five months of short-term disability through her employer. It was “a life-saver,” she said. But in 2022, she caught COVID again, and this time it’s taken much longer to recover from the long COVID that followed. “I’m suffering fatigue, brain fog and post-exertional malaise where if I do any small thing it exhausts me.”

Not knowing when or if she’ll be able to go back to work, Marie (who asked that her last name not be used for fear of reprisal from the Social Security Administration) began pursuing long term disability coverage and is also applying for disability coverage through Social Security. “[My lawyer] said, ‘Expect to be denied, especially because it’s long COVID,’” she said.

Marie and other COVID “long haulers” must navigate a disability claims system that was already difficult before the pandemic, with sometimes years-long wait times and no clear guidance on how to prove their disability.

Full article...