Twice Denied, Beloved Teacher Is Finally Awarded Benefits, Then Dies

Portsmouth, NHBob Sprankle was a teacher who began to suffer debilitating abdominal pain stemming from hernia surgery performed in 2007. According to a report in the Portland Press Herald (11/3/15), the pain became chronic, progressing to such a degree that he was largely confined to his home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Sprankle applied for long-term disability (LTD) benefits, but like many individuals’ Wrongly Denied Disability Claims, he was made to wait.

And suffer.

Many an LTD lawsuit has asserted that insurance providers systematically deny legitimate LTD claims. An appeal can take years, with many insureds simply giving up entirely.

Sprankle didn’t give up, and he had several friends and angels in his corner to assist him in his battle for benefits. Nevertheless, the journey to eventual approval was long and hard.

The respected teacher was denied LTD not once, but twice. Coworkers and various medical professionals undertook for Sprankle, and vouched for the fact he was under extreme, debilitating pain. However, the provider, in this case the Maine Public Employees Retirement System (Maine PERS), did not agree. Critics cite various changes to the Maine PERS that effectively resulted in an increased rate of denials.

When Sprankle was denied benefits in 2013, according to the report, he attempted to return to his teaching job at Wells Elementary School for the upcoming academic year, beginning in the fall of 2014.

He lasted a little over two months, according to the report in the Portland Press Herald. His lower abdominal pain was reported to have become unbearable, to the point where he could no longer walk the halls. Sprankle increasingly found himself lying down in a supply closet between classes, in an effort to gain a bit of relief from his pain, and to help conserve whatever strength and energy he had left for his students.

His efforts proved fruitless, and he left the school for good in November 2014. He applied for LTD benefits again, and again was denied. But then something happened: an area newspaper caught wind of the story and used Sprankle to help illustrate and personify all that was wrong with the status quo of the Maine PERS system. That was on August 23 of last year. Soon after the story came out, Sprankle was invited to re-apply for LTD benefits. The state reviewed his case yet again this past fall, and in early November, Sprankle was granted with permanent retirement disability.

Sprankle, just 52, would receive 59 percent of his salary ($71,000 per annum) until age 65. Sprankle, continuing in a state of “extreme agony” from his medical condition, credited Representative Robert Foley (R-Wells) for helping him in his fight.

“This is like an enormous weight has been lifted from our shoulders,” Sprankle said in the November 3, 2015 media report.

And then, Sprankle died.

Just a month after finally achieving approval for LTD benefits, Sprankle passed away. The Portland Press Herald (12/10/15), which just a month before had been reporting a happy ending for Sprankle’s Wrongly Denied Disability Claims, had to come back and report on the death of the beloved teacher.

Part of the victory won by Sprankle with the help of Rep. Bob Foley was an announced reformation of Maine PERS in order to help minimize and prevent wrongful denials. And Maine PERS is not in isolation, as many carriers including MetLife, Principal Financial Group, Guardian, The Standard and others have been at the receiving end of a bad faith insurance lawsuit.

Sprankle, living through constant pain, won his fight. However, he didn’t live long enough to benefit from it.