Disability Insurer Must Consider Actual Duties Of Claimant’s Own Occupation

Mealey's (February 8, 2019, 11:36 AM EST) -- PHILADELPHIA — A disability insurer was required to consider the actual duties of a claimant’s occupation rather than the duties of the occupation as performed in the national economy because the plan clearly defined the term “own occupation” as the work the claimant was performing immediately before the onset of the disability, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Feb. 7 in affirming a district court’s opinion (Christopher Patterson v. Aetna Life Insurance Co., No. 17-3566, 3rd  Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 3902)....