Category: Workers Compensation

The State of Alaska Division of Workers Compensation released 2012 Annual Report: http://labor.alaska.gov/wc/forms/2012AR.pdf.

It shows that the insurance companies are paying their attorneys more than they were paid in 2011.  The insurance defense attorneys received 10.3 million dollars in 2012.  Doctors were paid more too: 176 million dollars in 2012.  But employee's disability benefits (temporary total disability, temporary partial disability, permanent partial impairment, permanent total disability), that amount went down 2.5% despite the fact that compensation rates were raised (See Bulletins 10-04 and 11-06 at the Board's website).

That means fewer employees are getting less money while defense attorneys and doctors are getting paid more.  In the words of Father Guido Sarducci, "Coincidenza?"

 

 

When things go the way they are supposed to: you report your injury to your Employer.  Your Employer reports the injury to his insurance company and the Alaska Workers Compensation Board. The insurance company adjuster contacts you with a claim number to give to your medical providers.  You send your doctor’s work releases to the insurance company and the insurance company sends you temporary total disability as long as you are off work.  You get the medical treatment you need and go back to work.

When things don’t go right.  The first problem I’ve seen, time and again, is the Employer refuses to report the injury to his insurance company and the Alaska Workers Compensation Board.  If that happens, contact an attorney immediately.  You will need an attorney to obtain the benefits to which you are entitled.

What kind of benefits are you entitled to?  Reasonable and necessary medical treatment for your work-related injury, for as long as you need it.  That could mean the rest of your life.  You are entitled to be compensated for time lost from work, whether you’re off full time or part time.  You are entitled to a PPI rating if you’re injury is permanent.  You may be entitled to retraining.  You are entitled to be compensated for your travel for treatment, even if it is few miles.  Gas is expensive.

For more information, check out FAQ page: http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.  With more than 30 years of experience representing injured Alaskans, Keenan Powell is currently accepting workers compensation cases.For a free consultation, call the Law Office of Keenan Powell: 907 258 7663.

When the Board orders an SIME (Second Independent Medical Evaluation), the Employer is obligated to pay the doctor, provide transportation and pay per diem to the Employee. These arrangements must be made and conveyed to the Employee no later than 10 days before the SIME appointment. 8 AAC 45.090.

The “per diem” is the amount of money to which the Employee is entitled for meals and incidentals. The proper amount depends on how long the Employee is out of state and where the Employee is set. The Alaska Workers Compensation Board had adopted the federal standards for establishing per diem. http://labor.state.ak.us/wc/bulletins/13-01.pdf.

The federal per diem rates are found at the government website: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104877.

For instance, if an Employee was sent to San Francisco for 24 hours for a SIME, the Employer should send the Employee a check for $71 to cover meals and incidentals. http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100120.

If the Employer fails to provide timely notice of the travel arrangements, that is 10 days or more in advance, then the Employee is not obligated to attend the SIME. The reason for the 10 days notice is apparent. It allows the Employee time to arrange time of work or babysitting or dogsitting or any other arrangements that need to be made.

If the Employee does not attend the SIME because the Employer did not make travel arrangements timely, the Employer is obligated to pay the doctor’s missed appointment fee. If the appointment is missed, the Employee call the Board and/or request a prehearing to inform the Board designee so that another appointment can be made.

The Law Office of Keenan Powell provides free consultations regardless of whether or not you have been controverted. To contact Keenan Powell, use the contact form on this page or call 258-7663.

For more information about Workers Compensation, see: http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.

When you start looking for an attorney to handle your workers compensation claim, you will quickly find out that attorneys will ask you to pull together a number of records to review. At the very least, he or she will want to see all of your medical records since your date of injury, the report of the insurance doctor (EIME), if one exists, and the controversion notice, if one exists. Depending on the circumstances, the attorney may want to request more documents in order to review your case.

There are two basic reasons why attorneys ask for the file before deciding whether to accept the case: first, in order to evaluate the case properly, and second, it is a test.

It is difficult for an attorney to determine whether he or she can help the claimant without reviewing the file because Workers Compensation law, and the process, is complicated and each case is unique. Many claimants have seen a number of doctors before they call an attorney, so obtaining their medical records can be a complicated and tedious process. Moreover, where many doctors will give their patient a copy of the file for free, they charge attorneys up to $75 or more for the records, even if there is only one visit. It’s easy to see that if attorneys went to the expense and time to collect documents for every person that called, he or she would not have time to devote to pursuing his client’s claims.

The second reason for asking claimants to gather the records is that, it is a test. If a claimant does not have enough motivation to collect the files, then he or she probably doesn’t have enough motivation to see the case through. If he or she cannot or does not follow directions, then he or she will be a difficult client to work with because the claimant must cooperate during the case in order to proceed.

So if you are serious about your workers compensation claim, collect the records which are asked of you. All of them.

The Law Office of Keenan Powell provides free consultations regardless of whether or not you have been controverted. To contact Keenan Powell, use the contact form on this page or call 258-7663.

For more information about Workers Compensation, see: http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.

 

It has come to my attention that Alaska National is sending out medical releases to injured workers asking them to release medical information from 1998 forward.  Further the medical releases are phrased in such a way that the provider will release all medical records from that date.

This is not the law.  Alaska Workers Compensation law is very clear.  The insurance company is entitled to medical information relating only to the injured body part from two years prior to the date of injury in most circumstances.

In the event that the injured body part was injured previously, then the insurance company would be entitled to medical records from two years prior to the first treatment date.

It is imperative that an injured worker respond to the request for medical releases timely.  If the releases are overbroad (see information beyond what the insurance company is entitled to) then the injured worker must file a petition for protective order with the Alaska Workers Compensation Board.  The form is available on the Board's website: http://labor.state.ak.us/wc/pdf_list.htm.  Use form 07-6111.  You must print the form, fill it out, file a copy with the Board and send a copy to the insurance company.

If you fail to execute the forms and return them on time, or instead file a petition for protective order, the insurance company is entitled to cut off all of your benefits, time loss payment and medical benefits included, until the issue is resolved.  Nothing will happen in your case,

For more information, see http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html

Contact Keenan Powell through the contact form or call: 258-7663. Toll free: 888-368-5678.

One of insurance companies’ tricks to avoid paying Workers Compensation is to have their doctor state that there was no specific injury at work when the injury that the Employee sustained as a chronic overuse injury which accumulated over a period of time.

Another trick, often seen played at the same time, is for the insurance doctor to say that the pain the Employee is suffering is the result of a pre-existing condition.

The law is clear, and the insurance companies know it, that chronic overuse injuries are compensable under Alaska Workers Compensation law just like an injury from a traumatic event.
Some of the injuries seen develop from chronic overuse include hand nerve injuries, back and neck strains, herniated discs.

The law is equally clear, and the insurance companies know it, that when a work-related injury combines with, aggravates or accelerates a pre-existing condition, then it is still compensable Alaska Workers Compensation law. It is not important that the underlying problem (usually degenerative disc disease) was the result of work, but the pain was caused by working.

If the insurance company has controverted your benefits because it paid a doctor to say you weren’t hurt at work, you need to speak to an attorney.

The Law Office of Keenan Powell provides free consultations regardless of whether or not you have been controverted. To contact Keenan Powell, use the contact form on this page or call 258-7663.

For more information about Workers Compensation, see: http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.

Sometimes in a Workers Compensation case, the insurance company will assign a nurse case manager whose job is to attend the doctor’s visits, consult with the patient and report back to the insurance company.

In theory, that sounds like a good thing.  But in practice, it is not.

I have seen cases where the nurse case manager has told the doctor what the insurance company will and will not pay for and as a result, the doctor has changed his treatment recommendations.  It is a felony for anyone to interfere with the doctor’s recommendations but the nurse case managers get away with it because some doctors think that they have to play ball with the insurance company.  It is particularly a problem when the doctor does not document that his treatment recommendation has changed because of the nurse case manager’s interference.

Another problem that I’ve seen is that the nurse case manager will try to persuade the injured worker that he or she is ready to go back to work sooner than the injured worker should have been.

And, perhaps most importantly, the nurse case manager is working on the supervision of the insurance adjuster.  Every question that she asks you, every thing that she says to you is at the direction of the insurance company for the sole purpose of minimizing the benefits it pays to the injured worker.

And everything you say is reported directly back to the insurance company.

You do not have to accept a nurse case manager.  It is up to the injured worker whether he or she will allow anyone else in to the room during the doctor’s visits.  The insurance company cannot discontinue your benefits because you refused the nurse case manager.

Be warned and be aware.

The Law Office of Keenan Powell provides free consultations regardless of whether or not you have been controverted.   To contact Keenan Powell, use the contact form on this page or call 258-7663.

For more information about Workers Compensation, see:  http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.

mailto:keenan@keenanpowell.com.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/08/19917073-yarnell-hill-firefighters-kin-say-theyre-being-cheated-out-of-benefits?

 

Employer’s game playing to avoid paying benefits is the reason why I fight on the behalf of Employees.

In Alaska, employees are entitled to workers compensation benefits whether or not the employer wants to pay them, whether or not the employer carriers workers compensation insurance, whether or not the employer characterizes the employee as an independent contractor and whether or not the employer files a Report of Injury.

As long as an individual is an employee, as defined by the Workers Compensation law, that person is entitled to benefits.

And the beauty of the system is that the employer can be forced to pay penalties to the employee for denying benefits and if the insurance company is involved in bad faith denials, it can be reported to the Division of Insurance by the Workers Compensation Board.

Bottom line: the last person you should trust when you’re hurt at work is your employer.  Call an experienced Workers Compensation attorney and find out what your rights are.

The Law Office of Keenan Powell provides free consultations regardless of whether or not you have been controverted.   To contact Keenan Powell, use the contact form on this page or call 258-7663.

For more information about Workers Compensation, see:  http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.

"An employee may not be required to pay a fee or charge for medical treatment or services provided under this chapter."  AS 23.30.097(f).

An employee never has to pay for his medical treatment for a Workers Compensation Claim.  AS 23.30.097(f).  If you were made to pay for any of your treatment then you need to submit the proof of the charge and payment to the insurance company for reimbursement.  Be sure that you keep a copy for your own files of the proof of payment and the date upon which you sent it to the insurance company for reimbursement.  There are two ways to prove that you submitted the payment:

1. You can hand carry the payment to the insurance company and ask the receptionist to sign and date your copy of the document, or

2. You can mail it priority mail.  You will be given a tracking number by USPS.  After the mail is delivered, go to the USPS website and print off the proof of delivery.

The reason that is important to keep proof of your submission is that you are entitled to a 25% penalty if the insurance company is late reimbursing you.  For more information: http://keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.

If the insurance company controverts you and refuses to pay the medical bills, you are not required to pay the bills.  AS 23.30.097(f).  However the doctors are not required to treat you if they are not paid under most circumstances, so you probably won’t receive treatment.

If you have health insurance or are eligible for Medicaid or Medicare, the providers can bill those entities while you are sorting out the Workers Compensation case.

If you do not want to file a claim for payment of medical benefits, then the providers are entitled to file a claim directly.

Call:  Keenan Powell 258-7663.  E-mail:  keenan@keenanpowell.com.