Category / Topic Archives: Benefits
Sexual Problems May Be Related to Spinal Cord Injury
By Jason Weinstock on February 10, 2012 Posted in Back InjuriesMany injured workers with severe spinal cord injuries are reluctant to mention to their treating physician that they have had sexual dysfunction since their work accident in Nevada. Males in particular are embarrassed to bring up this topic with their doctors. Unless the doctor initiates the discussion and directly asks about any sexual problems, the problem … Continue reading Sexual Problems May Be Related to Spinal Cord Injury
Unfairly Surprised by Your Doctor’s Work Release?
By Jason Weinstock on February 10, 2012 Posted in Medical CareI caution all injured workers to look carefully at the physician progress report (PPR) they are handed at the end of each visit to their doctor assigned to treat their industrial injury. Most doctors and clinics that are on the various third-party administrators’ medical provider lists use the D-39 form approved by the DIR. Sometimes the clinic or doctor … Continue reading Unfairly Surprised by Your Doctor’s Work Release?
Expensive to Obtain a Second Rating
By Jason Weinstock on January 30, 2012 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsEach year the WCS Medical Unit of the Division of Industrial Relations (DIR) updates the Medical Fee Schedule that determines the fees for medical services, including impairment evaluations. Effective February 1, 2012, the current 138 authorized rating doctors may charge $693.31 for up to two body parts. $231.54 is chargeable for each additional body part. For example, an … Continue reading Expensive to Obtain a Second Rating
Neck and Low Back Pain- Does Physical Therapy Help?
By Jason Weinstock on December 23, 2011 Posted in Medical CareI’ve had a couple clients referred by local neurosurgeons to a particular physical therapist who is certified in the McKenzie’s Protocol, and I decided to investigate this personally. I’ve got chronic neck pain from various horse-related accidents over the years, and am always searching for ways to increase my range of motion. I also want … Continue reading Neck and Low Back Pain- Does Physical Therapy Help?
Terrible New Decision for Injured Workers on PPD Ratings
By Jason Weinstock on December 1, 2011 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsJust before Thanksgiving, the Nevada Supreme Court published a turkey of a decision that robs injured workers of disability award money. In Public Agency Compensation Trust v. Blake, 127 Nev. Adv. Op. 77 (2011), the court invalidated a long-standing DIR regulation that addressed how rating doctors are to account for a prior PPD award for a re … Continue reading Terrible New Decision for Injured Workers on PPD Ratings
Holiday Horrors: Late and Missing Checks
By Jason Weinstock on November 21, 2011 Posted in BenefitsDoes the following sound familiar? You’ve checked the mailbox for the third time in an hour. You finally see the postal carrier drive down your street, but he does not leave a compensation check in your mailbox. You wave him down and angrily interrogate him about whether your check could be lost or stolen. Your briefly contemplate committing a federal offense … Continue reading Holiday Horrors: Late and Missing Checks
Nurses and Attendants at Risk for Low Back Injuries
By Jason Weinstock on October 28, 2011 Posted in Medical CareBack injuries, followed closely by shoulder injuries, are the most common job-related injuries for my clients in the nursing field. Nurses, and those employed as nursing attendants are at high risk for these injuries primarily because they must transfer patients from beds to gurneys or to wheel chairs, or to baths. A new law in California requires hopsitals to … Continue reading Nurses and Attendants at Risk for Low Back Injuries
Depression and Work Injuries in Nevada
By Jason Weinstock on October 17, 2011 Posted in Medical Care,psychological injuryIf you have a work injury in Nevada you are more likely to become depressed. If you do need a study to prove that there is a higher incidence of depression among workers with orthopedic injuries, you will be interested in the linked article from California psychologist Stephen Pfeiffer, Ph.D., He cites a study reported in the … Continue reading Depression and Work Injuries in Nevada
Are Your Benefits Calculated Correctly?
By Jason Weinstock on October 11, 2011 Posted in Average Monthly Wage,BenefitsWhen the adjuster sends you a benefit check if you are out of work due to your work accident, she should also send you a letter telling you how she calculated your average monthly wage (AMW). The AMW is the amount used to calculate your out-of-work compensation benefits and your permanent partial disability award. The … Continue reading Are Your Benefits Calculated Correctly?
Thinking of Starting Your Own Business After Your Work Injury?
By Jason Weinstock on October 10, 2011 Posted in Vocational rehabilitationThe reality is that many injured workers are not offered permanent light duty jobs by their employers after their treating doctors give them permanent work restrictions that prevent them from going back to their usual jobs. Employers cannot be forced under Nevada workers’ compensation law to give permanent light duty jobs to injured employees. Instead, … Continue reading Thinking of Starting Your Own Business After Your Work Injury?
Prescription Drugs and Nevada Workers’ Comp Claims
By Jason Weinstock on September 16, 2011 Posted in Back InjuriesPart A The NCCI is an organization that keeps statistics on work injuries in the various states. A recently released August 2011 NCCI Research Brief by Lipton, Laws and Li focused on prescription costs. According to this study, prescription drugs are 19% of the medical costs on an average claim. The study showed that it was not the price of drugs that was responsible … Continue reading Prescription Drugs and Nevada Workers’ Comp Claims
Delays in Getting Medical Care on Your Nevada Work Comp Claim
By Jason Weinstock on September 9, 2011 Posted in Delays in Getting Medical CareDelays in getting medical care authorized are the reason most injured workers contact me for help on their claim. Here is some additional information about treatment delays and what you can do to get proper medical care on time on your Nevada workers’ compensation claim. An insurer won’t authorize expensive tests like MRI’s or EMG/nerve conduction … Continue reading Delays in Getting Medical Care on Your Nevada Work Comp Claim
Mileage Reimbursement Rates and Maximum Average Monthly Wage for Nevada Workers’ Comp Claims
By Jason Weinstock on September 2, 2011 Posted in Average Monthly Wage,Mileage reimubursementThere’s good news and bad news. The good news is that effective July 1, 2011, the mileage reimbursement rate for using your car to go to and from doctors and physical therapists visits increased from 51 cents per mile to 55.5 cents per mile. Injured workers must have traveled more than 20 miles one way … Continue reading Mileage Reimbursement Rates and Maximum Average Monthly Wage for Nevada Workers’ Comp Claims
Should You Get a Second Opinion Before Having a Spinal Fusion?
By Jason Weinstock on June 9, 2011 Posted in Back InjuriesMost industrial insurers will schedule injured workers for a second opinion before authorizing an orthopedic surgeon or a neurosurgeon’s request to do a spinal fusion. It is a good idea, even if the insurer isn’t requiring it, to get a second opinion on whether a spinal fusion is the best treatment for you. Many injured workers immediately agree … Continue reading Should You Get a Second Opinion Before Having a Spinal Fusion?
The Learning Center- Technology Training Center
By Jason Weinstock on June 2, 2011 Posted in Vocational rehabilitationToday, I spent an informative afternoon touring The Learning Center with owner Linda Montgomery. Linda founded this IT technical training center 26 years ago. Her impressive facility, housing over 250 computers, has been located for 3 years at 777 N. Rainbow, just past U.S. 95. TLC provides IT certification training to many of Nevada’s largest corporations who … Continue reading The Learning Center- Technology Training Center
Great Explanation of CRPS
By Jason Weinstock on May 25, 2011 Posted in Chronic painSee attached video for a great explanation of how someone with CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome) experiences pain. http://www.ted.com/talks/elliot_krane_the_mystery_of_chronic_pain.html
Hope for Chronic Pain Sufferers
By Jason Weinstock on May 10, 2011 Posted in Chronic painLast week, I had lunch with Dr. Mel Pohl, M.D., the Medical Director of Las Vegas Recovery Center, and his Admissions Coordinator, Jackie Pippin. The Las Vegas Recovery Center is a small, private facility that offers a chronic pain recovery program. While most chronic pain management treatment for injured workers involves ongoing prescription pain medication, injections and surgeries, this … Continue reading Hope for Chronic Pain Sufferers
Will You Need Retraining?
By Jason Weinstock on May 4, 2011 Posted in Vocational rehabilitationIf you are seriously hurt on the job, and think that you might not be able to return to your old occupation, you may need to be retrained to do a different kind of work. Under Nevada workers’ compensation law, you may qualify for vocational rehabilitation services and benefits if your treating doctor gives you permanent work restrictions that prevent … Continue reading Will You Need Retraining?
Your Right to Choose a Doctor
By Jason Weinstock on April 7, 2011 Posted in Medical CareI just saw a TV ad that asks injured workers whether they know that they have a right to choose their own doctor. Enough wasn’t said in this ad in my opinion. The actual law, NRS 616C.090, gives injured workers just a limited right to choose a different doctor. An employer can require that their injured employees first go to specific clinics to report … Continue reading Your Right to Choose a Doctor
Employers Misinformed About PPD Awards
By Jason Weinstock on April 6, 2011 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsThe most recent edition of the local magazineNevada Business has incorrect information from a local insurance agency on how permanent partial disability awards (PPD) are determined under Nevada law. The sidebar in the article states that Nevada has workers’ compensation laws that are pro business and that favor the employer, and I agree with that overall observation. However, … Continue reading Employers Misinformed About PPD Awards
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: It’s Real!
By Jason Weinstock on March 24, 2011 Posted in Back InjuriesFormerly called RSD (reflex sympathetic dystrophy), CRPS ( complex regional pain syndrome) is a type of pain thought to be caused by an injury or abnormality in the nerve pathway. It typically causes a burning sensation, and hypersensitivity to touch somewhere in the arms or legs. If not treated early, it may spread from one limb to … Continue reading Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: It’s Real!
There’s Still Time To Question The Average Monthly Wage Calculation
By Jason Weinstock on March 22, 2011 Posted in Average Monthly WageBefore you get rated for impairment at the end of your claim, you want to make sure that the award offered will be based on the right average monthly wage (AMW). Your AMW is one of the three factors that the insurer must use in determining how much money your percentage of impairment will be for you. … Continue reading There’s Still Time To Question The Average Monthly Wage Calculation
PPD Evaluations: Should You Have One?
By Jason Weinstock on February 16, 2011 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsThere were 5,528 permanent partial disability ratings done in Nevada in fiscal year 2010, according to a recent email to me from the Medical Unit of the Workers’ Compensation Section (WCS) of DIR. The Research and Analysis people at the WCS are not done compiling the data on the total number of claims filed for fiscal year 2010, but they … Continue reading PPD Evaluations: Should You Have One?
7 Steps to a Second PPD Rating
By Jason Weinstock on February 3, 2011 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsClick here to read my latest article on how to get a second rating evaluation when you think the PPD percentage offered by the rating doctor is wrong. Please note that this information is offered as general information and is not intended as legal advice as to your particular claim. There may be options other … Continue reading 7 Steps to a Second PPD Rating
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