Category / Topic Archives: Benefits
Cost Increase for PPD Evaluations
By Jason Weinstock on January 29, 2011 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsEffective February 1, 2011, the cost of a permanent partial disability evaluation and report will be $673.12. The cost is set by the Division of Industrial Relations. If more than two body parts are evaluated by the rater, an additional $224.80 is added. This cost is the same regardless of whether it is the insurer … Continue reading Cost Increase for PPD Evaluations
Low Back Strain: Am I Entitled to a PPD Award?
By Jason Weinstock on January 11, 2011 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsWhether or not you are entitled to receive a permanent partial disability award for your low back strain depends on the following three factors: 1. Whether your treating physician writes after your final visit that you may have a ratable impairment. Your insurance adjuster will only schedule a rating exam if your treating physician checks a box on the physician progress … Continue reading Low Back Strain: Am I Entitled to a PPD Award?
Mileage Reimbursement change- Jan. 2011
By Jason Weinstock on January 5, 2011 Posted in Mileage reimubursementThe Division of Industrial Relations announced that efffective January 1, 2011, the mileage reimbursement rate is increased from 50 cents per mile to 51 cents per mile. The rules that apply as to when an injured worker is entitled to claim mileage reimbursement are found at NAC 616C.150- NAC 616C.156. In general, injured workers who travel more … Continue reading Mileage Reimbursement change- Jan. 2011
PPD Awards in Nevada: Only a Few Are Reviewed
By Jason Weinstock on December 5, 2010 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsThe Workers’ Compensation Section of the Division of Industrial Relations (DIR) reported in their winter newsletter that an average of 464 ratings are sent in each month. Nevada law requires insurers to send a copy of all PPD evaluation reports to DIR. As of December 1, 2010, there were 141 rating doctors who were on DIR’s rotating list of … Continue reading PPD Awards in Nevada: Only a Few Are Reviewed
Surviving Job Loss: First, Get a Notebook
By Jason Weinstock on December 5, 2010 Posted in Vocational rehabilitationInjured workers who have permanent physical restrictions that prevent them from returning to their old jobs are usually separated from their old employer and assigned a vocational rehabilitation counselor. That independent counselor’s job is to help you develop a retraining program over the next 60 days that can be presented to the adjuster for approval. … Continue reading Surviving Job Loss: First, Get a Notebook
Help for Chronic Pain
By Jason Weinstock on December 1, 2010 Posted in Chronic painI came across another website that offers information on treating chronic pain, as well as a comprehensive list of other websites with additional help for people dealing with injuries or illnesses that cause chronic and long-lasting pain. There may be something useful for you here, particularly the kit offered for tracking and measuring your pain. … Continue reading Help for Chronic Pain
Very Little Job Security After a Work Accident
By Jason Weinstock on September 28, 2010 Posted in Vocational rehabilitationQ: What happens if my work injury prevents me from being able to do my old job? A: If your treating doctor releases you with permanent work restrictions that are not compatible with the physical requirements of your job, one of three things is likely to happen: 1) your employer may offer you a permanent light duty position , or … Continue reading Very Little Job Security After a Work Accident
Getting Medication After Claim Closure
By Jason Weinstock on September 22, 2010 Posted in Back InjuriesWhen the adjuster sends a letter, either scheduling a rating evaluation, or simply closing the claim, No additional medical treatment will be authorized. That means that the insurer will also stop paying for any medication refills, and will not authorize return visits to the doctor for more medication. If the injured worker’s treating doctor … Continue reading Getting Medication After Claim Closure
Average Monthly Wage, Fiscal Year 2011
By Jason Weinstock on September 15, 2010 Posted in BenefitsMaximum total disability benefits, payable when an injured worker is off work, are determined each fiscal year by the Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation, Employment Security Division. Maximum benefits are 66 2/3 of this maximum average monthly wage. (If the wage earned on the date of injury is less than the maximum average … Continue reading Average Monthly Wage, Fiscal Year 2011
How Concurrent Wages Affect Benefits
By Jason Weinstock on September 9, 2010 Posted in Concurrent wagesIf an injured worker is holding two jobs at the same time he or she has a work accident (or files a claim for an occupational disease), that worker is said to have concurrent employment. Concurrent employment is not the same as consecutive employment. Consecutive employment occurs when a worker has a job with one … Continue reading How Concurrent Wages Affect Benefits
Help! My FCE Is Invalid
By Jason Weinstock on July 29, 2010 Posted in BenefitsThe FCE (functional capacity evaluation) often serves to let the physician off the hook on trying to please both his patient and the insurer on the issue of work release restrictions. The insurer may be pressuring the doctor to give a full duty work release, while the patient keeps telling his doctor that he does not … Continue reading Help! My FCE Is Invalid
High Rate of Error and Inconsistency for PPD ratings
By Jason Weinstock on May 20, 2010 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsThe March/April 2010 edition of the AMA Guides Newsletter reports that a review of over 6,000 cases, mostly from California, resulted in 80% of them questioned by expert rating reviewers. For the very small number of Nevada cases reviewed for this study , the error rate was much less, with an average difference of 3% … Continue reading High Rate of Error and Inconsistency for PPD ratings
Worth Paying Attorneys’ Fees? You Judge.
By Jason Weinstock on May 4, 2010 Posted in Lawyers,Permanent partial disability awardsThis is a real story about a real client. We will protect his identity by calling him Joe, and by saying only that he worked for a very large employer. He hired me near the end of his claim, and after considering what issues might still come up on his claim, I agreed to discount my usual fee and represent … Continue reading Worth Paying Attorneys’ Fees? You Judge.
Show Me the Money for My Work Injury!
By Jason Weinstock on April 28, 2010 Posted in BenefitsMost people who call me about their Nevada workers’ compensation claims tell me that they just want to get decent medical treatment and get on with their lives. They usually say something about not pursuing a claim just to get money. They emphasize that they like their jobs, and they don’t want their employers to think … Continue reading Show Me the Money for My Work Injury!
Work Comp Benefits and Divorce
By Jason Weinstock on April 15, 2010 Posted in BenefitsI asked Family Law attorney Stacy Rocheleau of Rocheleau Law Group to write a guest blog post for me on workers’ compensation benefits and divorce. The Rocheleau Law Group handles divorce, child custody, and guardianship matters and offers a free legal guide. Their website is at www.rocheleaulaw.com, and phone is (702) 914-0400. This is what … Continue reading Work Comp Benefits and Divorce
What Is a Physiatrist?
By Jason Weinstock on March 26, 2010 Posted in Back InjuriesOne type of physician that injured workers commonly encounter is the physiatrist, also known as a physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM & R) physician. While the name sounds similar to a psychiatrist, a physiatrist treats physical injuries as opposed to mental or behavioral problems. A surgeon may refer her patient to a physiatrist after a surgery when … Continue reading What Is a Physiatrist?
Cost of a Rating Exam in Nevada Is Increased
By Jason Weinstock on March 25, 2010 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsEffective February 10, 2010, the cost of a permanent partial disability evaluation on a Nevada workers’ compensation claim is $650.99 for one or two body parts. An injured worker who does not agree with the percentage of impairment found by the assigned rating doctor may obtain a second rating evaluation by paying this same fee … Continue reading Cost of a Rating Exam in Nevada Is Increased
What Happens When? PPD Awards and Voc Rehab Buy-Outs
By Jason Weinstock on March 23, 2010 Posted in Permanent partial disability awards,Vocational rehabilitationI have included a graphic to clarify what happens when the treating doctor tells the injured worker that he is "stable and ratable". I have divided injured workers who are stable and ratable into two groups, depending on whether the injured worker is released to go back to work full duty, or whether the injured … Continue reading What Happens When? PPD Awards and Voc Rehab Buy-Outs
Vocational Rehabilitation- My Visit to LV-PITA
By Jason Weinstock on March 17, 2010 Posted in Vocational rehabilitationThis week I visited the Las Vegas Professional Institute of Technology & Accounting (LV-PITA) to get a first-hand impression of the school’s retraining programs, to pop in on a few classes, meet some instructors, and to meet director Laurie Clemens. I like to personally acquaint myself with the doctors, vocational counselors, nurse case managers, and … Continue reading Vocational Rehabilitation- My Visit to LV-PITA
True or False: The longer a Nevada workers’ comp claimant is out of work, the greater the settlement award?
By Jason Weinstock on March 12, 2010 Posted in Lawyers,Permanent partial disability awardsApparently, the doctors who wrote the American Medical Association’s Guides to the Evaluation of Disease and Injury Causation don’t know the answer to this week’s question either. Dr. J. Mark Melhorn and Dr. William Ackerman, editors of the 2008 book designed to help workers’ comp doctors answer medical causation questions, write that disability in the workplace is rampant in the … Continue reading True or False: The longer a Nevada workers’ comp claimant is out of work, the greater the settlement award?
Good News for Injured Workers Getting PPD Awards for Back Injuries
By Jason Weinstock on March 4, 2010 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsLast week the Nevada Supreme Court unanimously decided that rating doctors evaluating injured workers with spinal injuries can add one to three additional percentage points to the permanent partial disability award if the rating doctor finds that the spinal injury has substantially impaired activities of daily living (ADL’s). The Nevada Self-Insurers Association had filed a … Continue reading Good News for Injured Workers Getting PPD Awards for Back Injuries
Health Care Jobs a Good Retraining Choice for Injured Workers in Nevada
By Jason Weinstock on February 24, 2010 Posted in Vocational rehabilitationThe Health Care Quarterly report in the recent issue of "Las Vegas In Business" has some good news for injured workers deciding which retraining program is most likely to lead to actual employment in the future. Health care employment was up 2,300 jobs from last year according to a research analyst. The health care industry … Continue reading Health Care Jobs a Good Retraining Choice for Injured Workers in Nevada
Bankruptcy and Nevada Workers’ Comp Benefits
By Jason Weinstock on February 4, 2010 Posted in BenefitsI asked local bankruptcy attorney Sam Benevento to provide an answer to the question: Will filing a bankruptcy affect your workers’ compensation claim? Here’s Sam’s answer: To understand the answer to this question, it helps to understand the difference between a Chapter 7 and a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 is a “straight” bankruptcy. Under Chapter … Continue reading Bankruptcy and Nevada Workers’ Comp Benefits
Starting a New Business in Nevada
By Jason Weinstock on February 4, 2010 Posted in Vocational rehabilitationFor many injured workers who are unable to return to their old jobs due a permanent injury, a formal program of retraining with a vocational rehabilitation counselor may not be an option, or may not be the best option. Hispanic employees who have difficulty reading and writing English, for example, will not be able to … Continue reading Starting a New Business in Nevada
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