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  • short term disability

    Has anyone here ever used short term disability while off of work and can you tell me in your experience how it has worked. The explanation of benefits is very vague and I was wondering. Thanks.
    Janet
    36 year young cardiac RN
    old curve C 29, T 70, L 50
    new curve C 7, T 23, L 20
    Surgery June 11, UCH, Dr. Cronen T2-L5, posterior
    Revision December 20 L5-S1 with pelvic fixation
    and Osteotomy to L3 at Tampa General Hospital

  • #2
    at my company, short-term disability leave (vs. long-term) does not exceed 3 months. i took exactly three months off and received 60% of my salary during that time. it was a pretty nice deal...

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    • #3
      Did they allow you to use your sick time with the short term too?
      36 year young cardiac RN
      old curve C 29, T 70, L 50
      new curve C 7, T 23, L 20
      Surgery June 11, UCH, Dr. Cronen T2-L5, posterior
      Revision December 20 L5-S1 with pelvic fixation
      and Osteotomy to L3 at Tampa General Hospital

      Comment


      • #4
        Hi,
        I am currently on STD while on FMLA for my revision surgery 2 months ago. I had to use my PTO time before the STD kicked in. There was a 14 day waiting period and then I receive 60% of my salary. I also discovered it is tax free (yay!). It sure has made things alot easier for me. My company's policy states I can receive it for 26 weeks. I hope not to be off for that long though!!!
        May 2008 Fusion T4 - S1, Pre-op Curves T45, L70 (age 48). Unsuccessful surgery.

        March 18, 2010 (age 50). Revision with L3 Osteotomy, Replacement of hardware T11 - S1 , addition of bilateral pelvic fixation. Correction of sagittal imbalance and kyphosis.

        January 24, 2012 (age 52) Revision to repair pseudoarthrosis and 2 broken rods at L3/L4.

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        • #5
          My company has a pretty typical short term disability benefit but I didn't use it. I considered it but ended up passing on it for the following reasons;

          1) I had 3 weeks of PTO saved up....I had to use that first anyway and decided I'd make the call on short term disability after 3 weeks at which point I decided not to use it....

          2) I can work from home....I just started going back into the office last week (I'm 2 months post op)...for the past 6 weeks I've been working entirely from home

          3) While on short term disability I would not be allowed to work at all....if I did and the provider found out, I'd have the give the money back. I needed something to do while laying around all day so I figured why not work. I like what I do ( as much as anyone can like work mind you) so I figured what the heck, might as well just work to pass the time.

          4) While on short term disability at my company no vacation accrues and no 401(k) contributions can be made.

          5) I work for a great company that has given me all the time I need to get better....I can do my job in pieces so if I need to work a couple hours then take a nap they are okay with that. Granted I have worked there for 13 years so I've built up some major equity and trust, and they know I'll get the job done, and I've spent many nights since surgery working just to pass the time.

          6) I'm cheap...the thought of losing 40% of my pay didn't sit well with me. I was determined to get back to work ASAP.

          Rich
          Pre-Surgery Lumbar 65 degrees
          A/P Fusion T10-Pelvis by Dr. Christopher Good
          Virginia Spine Institute, Reston, VA 3/17/10, 3/18/10
          Post-Surgery Lumbar 19 degrees, and 2" in height

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          • #6
            My company offers short term and long term disability. I had no problem being approved for short term disability. I am taking the allowed 3 months. If I'm not ready to go back, i will transition into long term for another few weeks. I receive 60% of my salary. This is a true blessing that i feel very fortunate to have.
            Shari - 55 years old
            Pre-Surgery 62 degree thorasic curve with shifting.
            Post op 13 degree curve.
            Successful surgery 4/15/10, T3-L2 fused.
            2nd surgery to reopen incision 10" to diagnose infection, 5/18/10
            Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI - the late Dr. Harry Herkowitz
            www.scoliosisthejourney.com

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            • #7
              I think I had to use a week of my allotted PTO before my STD kicked in.

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              • #8
                My company made us use short-term disability for maternity leave. Benefit was 50% of salary, if I remember correctly. It could go on for a long time, I think at least 3-4 months, but your doctor had to keep certifying you as disabled. Your HR people or the insurance co. should be able to clarify for you.

                Evelyn
                age 48
                80* thoracolumbar; 40* thoracic
                Reduced to ~16* thoracolumbar; ~0* thoracic
                Surgery 3/14/12 with Dr. Lenke in St. Louis, T4 to S1 with pelvic fixation
                Broken rods 12/1/19; scheduled for revision fusion L1-L3-4 with Dr. Lenke 2/4/2020
                Not "confused" anymore, but don't know how to change my username.

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                • #9
                  I've learned a little about STD from maternity leave 3 years ago and from working for an insurance company for 2 and half years (although my boss doesn't sell it). Typically, the percentages of pay while on STD are 60% or 66 and 2/3%. As for taxes, it depends on who pays the premiums for the STD. If you pay the premium with after tax money then it will not be considered income. However, if you pay the premium with pretax money or your employer pays for it then it will be considered income (as is my case). Some companies insist PTO or vacation days be used before STD will kick in and some don't. My boss doesn't care one way or the other. However, I will be using a week of PTO before the STD kicks in. Normally, there is a 7 day waiting period. I'm not clear on the length of time STD can be used for.

                  Just a side note, if you have payroll deductions taken out for your health insurance you may want to find out from HR how they handle that. With my work, to maximize my health insurance benefits I had to schedule my surgery for the beginning of the month as the insurance premium is paid at the beginning of the month. After the first month I would then be placed on COBRA (which is expensive!!). I will then need to come back at the end of a month and not in the middle or my payroll deductions will start again and ding me a second time for health insurance even though I paid for a whole month of COBRA. Luckily my boss loves me enough that he's paying for the COBRA. When I was on maternity leave with my old employer I didn't have to worry about COBRA as they were a very large retail chain (no, it was not Walmart).

                  I don't know if this helps any or made it more confusing.
                  Tiffany K
                  I'm not short, I'm fun size!

                  29 years old
                  4'11", never braced
                  Pre-surgery, 52° T6 to T12, 35° T12 to L4
                  T1-L2, Posterior 8/5/2010, gained 1"

                  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...9&l=03212f3e17

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                  • #10
                    NJ has a mandatory short-term disability tax unless working for a gov't agency. This benefit can cover up to 6 months disability. The doctor fills out a form and the employer payroll dept. documents your work record. It is not difficult to get and it pays up to a certain amount ~500/wk-not sure. This kicks in after one uses their sick days.

                    Not all states have such a benefit.

                    It is also used for pregnancy.
                    Original scoliosis surgery 1956 T-4 to L-2 ~100 degree thoracic (triple)curves at age 14. NO hardware-lost correction.
                    Anterior/posterior revision T-4 to Sacrum in 2002, age 60, by Dr. Boachie-Adjei @Hospital for Special Surgery, NY = 50% correction

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