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Wage loss benefits (temporary total disability, temporary partial disability and permanent total disability are calculated pursuant to AS 23.30.220. There are 10 different formulas.

The most common formula is used when an employee’s earnings are calculated by the day, hour of output.  In that case, the amount is determined by looking at the best of the previous two years and dividing the gross wages by 50.  So if the employee’s best earning was $35,000 in one of the two years preceding the injury, his gross weekly wage is $35,000 divided by 50 equaling $700 per week.

The employee would not receive $700 for the wages lost while he is unable to work because of his injury.  Once the gross weekly wage is computed, then you need to go to the Alaska Workers Compensation Board website and plug that into the Benefit Calculator: http://labor.state.ak.us/wc/benefitcalculator.htm.

The amount of the benefits is dependent upon the year in which the employee was injured.  If he was injured on 1/1/14 and had a “spendable weekly wage” of $700, then he would be entitled to $454.44 per week if he is filing taxes as single with 1 dependent.  If he was injured on 1/1/15 instead, he would receive $454.79 per week.

Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) would be applied of the employee lives out of the state of Alaska which could increase or decrease the amount of money he receives.

Keenan Powell has practiced Workers Compensation law in the State of Alaska for over 30 years and has dedicated her practice to Workers Compensation representing injured Alaskans handling hundreds of cases. www.keenanpowell.com.

All consultations are free.  To make an appointment, use the contact form on this website or call:  907 258 7663.

 

 

 

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medical stuffWhen you're injured at work, the insurance company is responsible for providing all reasonable and necessary medical treatment for treatment of the work-related injury.  If there are complications, the insurance company must pay for the treatment of that as well.This includes complications from the injury and/or complications from the treatment.

Some of the complications which have been litigated include infections, diverticulitis and nerve injuries caused by surgery.

The complications will be treated as the work-injury is treated. Not only must the insurance company pay for medical treatment of the complications, it must also pay for time loss as the result of the complications and for transportation to and from treatment.  If the complications contribute to an inability to return to the injured employee's job, then it may be grounds to seek reemployment benefits as well.

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 www.keenanpowell.com or call 258-7663.

 

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medical stuffWhat if you enter into a settlement agreement with the insurance company by which the insurance company agrees to pay your medical bills but it doesn't pay them? And the medical providers are calling you to collect the money.

You have grounds to file a new claim. You can ask the Board to enforce the settlement agreement and to order penalties against the insurance company for failing to pay the medical providers timely.

What if the settlement agreement doesn't promise to pay the medical bills but has "hold harmless" language? After that, when you call, the insurance company will tell you it will reimburse you for any bills you paid.

That is not the law.  The law says the insurance company has to pay any and all medical costs which are reasonable, necessary and work-related within 30 days of the billing.  You need to file a new Claim and ask the Board to order the insurance company to pay the bills.

If you feel like you're getting jacked around, you are.  Call an attorney. 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 www.keenanpowell.com or call 258-7663.

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Nothing gives me a shot of adrenalin faster than to find out the doctor said something important to my client and I didn't know about it.  If you see your doctor, call your attorney's office right after you leave and tell them what was said.  It's critical for us to  keep our files up to date.  Your attorney will love you for it.

And don't be afraid to call for a status on your case.  The attorney works for you.  It's your case.  You're entitled to know what is going on.

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 www.keenanpowell.com or call 258-7663.

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toolsIf you're hurt at work and cannot go back to work for more than 90 days, then the insurance company is supposed to notify the Reemployment Benefits Administrator (RBA) which triggers a reemployment investigation.  The RBA appoints a private employment counselor to talk with you, collect information from the Employer and your doctors and prepares a report to the RBA answering the questions: 1. will you sustain a permanent partial impairment rating, 2. can you go back to work in the job you were doing, 3. can you go back to work in any job you performed in the past 10 years, and 4. have you had reemployment training before.

Depending on the answers, the RBA may find you eligible for reemployment benefits.  You then elect whether you want job dislocation benefits (a pay-off) or whether you want to go through retraining.  If you elect retraining, you can select your own employment counselor to develop a plan. (The RBA will give you a list of counselors.)  The plan is then submitted to the RBA.  When the RBA approves the plan, the Insurance Company starts paying you "41k" benefits (a bi-weekly stipend) and it will pay for your books and tuition.  You have two years from the date of the plan approval to complete the plan.

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 www.keenanpowell.com or call 258-7663.

 

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gavel-booksFrequently I see medical records which clients have brought in that have notes scrawled all over them. DO NOT DO THAT!

In the first place, when you write all over the medical records it makes the records inadmissible and you'll need to go back to the doctor's office to get a clean copy.  The doctor may not have charged you for the first set but they will probably charge you for the second sent anywhere from $25 to $150 and up.  OPA currently charges $50 for records.  Alaska Spine Institute charges $75.

Second, I know what I'm looking for.  While I also want to know what is important to you, when you write all over the medical records it creates a distraction.

The injured workers' input is very important. The reason that I meet with clients when I review medical records is so they can explain to me what is important to them.   If you have comments about the medical records, write them out on a separate piece of paper noting the page and paragraph number to which you are responding and bring that paper with you to the consultation. That would be very helpful.

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 www.keenanpowell.com or call 258-7663.

 

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gavel-booksTwo points I want to make:  Don't go to work high. Don't use marijuana for pain unless your doctor prescribes it.

1.  Don't go to work high. You might think you can do your job high (and maybe you can). You might not feel that high and you may not have toked just before you went to work.  But one thing that you can be guaranteed: if there is an accident and your test positive for THC (or any other drugs or alcohol), you will be blamed. That means losing your job.  It means if your injured, you will be denied workers compensation benefits. And it'll be on you to prove that the accident was not caused by your intoxication in order to get your benefits back, which would be hard to do if you aren't making money and can't afford a toxicology expert to testify for you.

2. Don't use pot for pain (unless prescribed).  If you are being treated for pain and being prescribed pain meds, most doctors will require you to sign a Pain Contract.  The pain contract says you won't get prescriptions from another doctor and you won't use illegal substances.  The reason the doctors do urine analysis is to make sure you aren't violating the pain contract.  If you do, the doctor will refuse to treat you.  Not only you can't get prescription pain meds anymore, you'll be tagged with "drug seeking behavior" which is code for "addict and liar".  It's not a label you want.

Keenan Powell has practiced Workers Compensation law in the State of Alaska for over 30 years and has dedicated her practice to Workers Compensation representing injured Alaskans handling hundreds of cases. www.keenanpowell.com.

All consultations are free.  To make an appointment, use the contact form on this website or call:  907 258 7663.

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  1. Do not call an attorney when you are drunk or stoned.
  2. Have all the relevant information available when you speak to the attorney.
    1. If it’s a workers compensation case: date of injury, whether a controversion was filed, date of controversion, medical history for treatment of the injury.
    2. If it’s a personal injury claim, date of accident, if police were called, was anyone cited and medical history for treatment of the injury.
  3. Do not argue with the attorney who answers the phone.  The attorney will conclude that you will not be a cooperative client and the attorney will not accept your case.
  4. Provide ALL the information requested by an attorney.  If there is something missing from the file, an experienced attorney will notice it and may assume that you are intentionally withholding information.
  5. Tell the truth.  Attorneys can deal with most things, if they know about them beforehand.

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 www.keenanpowell.com or call 258-7663.

 

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USPS priority mail envelopeWhen you send any documents to the insurance company, you need to have proof they got it. There are two ways to do that:

1.  You can fax the document to them.  Keep a copy of the fax and a copy of the fax confirmation sheet showing they received it.

2.  You can mail it priority mail.  A bar code number will be assigned to the letter and you can track delivery on USPS.com.

It's important to prove when you sent the documents because the insurance company doesn't owe you money until they receive them.  They don't owe you TTD (temporary total disability)  until they receive a doctor's note taking you off work.  They don't owe you travel benefits until they receive your travel log.  They can cut off your benefits if they don't get releases you requested.  If whatever you are sending to the insurance company is important enough to send, its important enough to prove that you sent it.

Keenan Powell has practiced Workers Compensation law in the State of Alaska for over 30 years and has dedicated her practice to Workers Compensation representing injured Alaskans handling hundreds of cases. www.keenanpowell.com.

All consultations are free.  To make an appointment, use the contact form on this website or call:  907 258 7663.

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SettersphotoWhen I accept a personal injury case, I collect all of the medical records, police reports and other documentation to prove my client's claim. Then I sit down with my client and evaluate the claim taking into consideration the disruption it has had in their lives and jury verdicts for similar injuries.

Then, and only then, with the express agreement of my client, I extend a settlement offer.  Settling without filing suit is always preferable, if possible, because it maximizes the amount of money that reaches the client and the funds reach the client 1-2 years sooner than if suit is filed.

Then, and only then, if the client agrees to a counter offer from the insurance company, we settle the claim.  If the client does not accept the counter offer, that is when the client, and only the client, will decide if he or she wants to file suit.

For more information about my practice, see:  http://www.keenanpowell.com/settlements_pi.html.

If you have any questions regarding your personal injury case, please call.    To contact me, use the contact form on this page or call 258-7663. ALL CONSULTATIONS ARE FREE.