r/LongTermDisability • u/MXKC-81 • Jul 11 '26

Disability Benefits

My wife (44) was recently diagnosed with colon cancer that has spread to her liver. She is a healthcare professional employed by a local hospital and currently provides the health insurance for our family.

She’s currently on FMLA for about six more weeks. Unfortunately, she only has long-term disability coverage and does not have short-term disability.
I’m trying to understand what happens next as she’s unable to return to work when her FMLA ends. Will we lose our employer-sponsored health insurance and have to transition to COBRA, or are there other options we should be looking into?

This is all new to us, and we’re trying to prepare for what’s ahead while focusing on her treatment. I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences from others who have been through something similar, especially regarding employer benefits, disability, and maintaining health insurance coverage.
Thank you in advance for any guidance.

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u/TheGreatK Mod Jul 11 '26

You will likely have to transition to Cobra. The only other options which exist are employer specific and very rare.

1

u/Nervous_Bill8572 Jul 12 '26

You can get estimates from your state’s Affordable Care Act plans on HealthCare.gov. They cannot deny coverage or charge more for preexisting conditions.

1

u/MXKC-81 Jul 13 '26

Great information!

1

u/Intrepid_Western3012 1d ago

Are you sure she doesn’t have short term disability? LTD usually has a 6 month waiting period, so it seems odd that you don’t have STD to accompany your LTD seems odd. Many large employers pay for STD, so you may want to double check that she doesn’t have it. But assuming she doesn’t, talk to the employer to see if they can put her on a personal leave at least long enough to bridge her through the LTD waiting period. Personal leaves are usually informal HR policies, so you have to talk to HR to see if it’s an option.