Step 1: Hire a Lawyer
The first thing you need if you are going to go through a protracted workers compensation case is a lawyer. Look in any phone book and you see the listings. The reason you will need a lawyer is because you will need someone to help fight attempts to cut off your benefits and if you are truly disabled this is going to be difficult for you to do. Keep in mind that these posts are designed for people who have valid reasons to be receiving workers compensation payments, not for people trying to game the system.
The need for a lawyer is all the more important if you have a medical condition caused by work related injury that affects your ability to think clearly (e.g., pay attention, remember). Why? One of the common techniques workers compensation companies use to cut off you benefits is to send you paperwork and tell you it must be filled out by your doctor and returned on a specific date. If you forget to do this, you will then receive a letter saying your benefits have been terminated. I've seen it happen countless times. A lawyer can help you manage any incoming paperwork and demands like this.
Let's take another example. Sometimes a person needs a particular type of medical evaluation due to their injury. For this example, let us say the person needs to see an eye doctor. The eye doctor's company calls the workers compensation company and asks if the visit will be paid and is told that the visit will not be authorized. Now the patient, who needs the evaluation, cannot go because he/she has no way to pay for it. The only way to fight this is to request a workers compensation hearing in front of a judge who will determine the need for treatment. In most cases I have seen, the judge authorizes treatment.
All of these things are hassles. And they are purposeful hassles. Remember what I said earlier…the workers compensation company is a business, not your friend. The more difficult they can make things for you, the sooner you may stop claiming the need to receive payments and get back to work (their perspective). Time and time again, however, I see this strategy backfire because the hassles that some workers compensation companies put patients through only serves to make them more symptomatic. I just recently worked on a case where the treating physician literally wrote in his medical notes to "stop harassing my patient because it is harmful to his health." Click here for step 2.
The need for a lawyer is all the more important if you have a medical condition caused by work related injury that affects your ability to think clearly (e.g., pay attention, remember). Why? One of the common techniques workers compensation companies use to cut off you benefits is to send you paperwork and tell you it must be filled out by your doctor and returned on a specific date. If you forget to do this, you will then receive a letter saying your benefits have been terminated. I've seen it happen countless times. A lawyer can help you manage any incoming paperwork and demands like this.
Let's take another example. Sometimes a person needs a particular type of medical evaluation due to their injury. For this example, let us say the person needs to see an eye doctor. The eye doctor's company calls the workers compensation company and asks if the visit will be paid and is told that the visit will not be authorized. Now the patient, who needs the evaluation, cannot go because he/she has no way to pay for it. The only way to fight this is to request a workers compensation hearing in front of a judge who will determine the need for treatment. In most cases I have seen, the judge authorizes treatment.
All of these things are hassles. And they are purposeful hassles. Remember what I said earlier…the workers compensation company is a business, not your friend. The more difficult they can make things for you, the sooner you may stop claiming the need to receive payments and get back to work (their perspective). Time and time again, however, I see this strategy backfire because the hassles that some workers compensation companies put patients through only serves to make them more symptomatic. I just recently worked on a case where the treating physician literally wrote in his medical notes to "stop harassing my patient because it is harmful to his health." Click here for step 2.
posted by MedFriendly | 7:19 PM
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