Category / Topic Archives: Permanent partial disability awards
Quiz on Nevada Work Comp PPD Awards
By Jason Weinstock on February 18, 2014 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsTest your knowledge of permanent partial disability awards on Nevada workers’ compensation claims with the following quiz. I will post the answers next week with explanations. Have fun! Quiz Time- How Much Do You Know About PPD’s in Nevada? True or False? Even if an injured worker has a surgery … Continue reading Quiz on Nevada Work Comp PPD Awards
Rating Physician Richard Kudrewicz Dies
By Jason Weinstock on December 7, 2013 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsThe workers’ compensation community lost one of the most authoritative and fairest rating physicians on November 30, 2013. Richard Kudrewicz, M.D. , or Dr. K, as most of us called him, performed about ten times as many permanent partial disability evaluations on Nevada injured workers as most of the rating physicians on the DIR’s rotating … Continue reading Rating Physician Richard Kudrewicz Dies
What’s My Nevada Claim Worth?
By Jason Weinstock on November 22, 2013 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsI looked at a very interesting award calculator devised by a Maryland attorney based on his review of thousands of work comp awards in Maryland. It asks the injured worker to put a number from 1 though 10 on the level of pain and interference with activities for their injury,r the average weekly … Continue reading What’s My Nevada Claim Worth?
Time Line for Permanent Partial Disability Awards
By Jason Weinstock on June 15, 2013 Posted in Permanent partial disability awards30 days after your doctor says you are stable and ratable, your adjuster must send you a letter scheduling your PPD exam. (The exam however, doesn’t have to take place within 30 days.) NRS 616C.490(2). 14 days after your rating exam, the rating doctor should send the rating report to the adjuster. NRS 616C.490(6). 14 … Continue reading Time Line for Permanent Partial Disability Awards
Cost of Rating Exams Up Again: Get It Right the First Time
By Jason Weinstock on March 12, 2013 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsEffective February 1, 2013, the Nevada fee schedule that governs health care providers under the Nevada workers’ compensation system, raised the PPD (permanent partial disability) reimbursement to $718.96. If the rating physician is rating more than two body parts, he or she can charge an additional $240.11 for each additional body part. For … Continue reading Cost of Rating Exams Up Again: Get It Right the First Time
Are Hernias Ratable?
By Jason Weinstock on January 19, 2013 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsInguinal hernias are common work-related injuries for men, often caused by increased abdominal pressure during heavy lifting. According to the November/December 2012 AMA Guides Newsletter, men have a 27% lifetime risk of an inguinal hernia. Genetics, overall body conditioning, and development of a person’s abdominal musculature have a lot to do with risk of a … Continue reading Are Hernias Ratable?
Will Accepting a PPD Award Affect My Job?
By Jason Weinstock on June 2, 2012 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsQuestion by an injured worker: Will accepting a permanent partial disability (PPD) award affect my job? Answer: It shouldn’t. Having permanent work restrictions may affect your job, but your accepting a PPD award shouldn’t. Here’s why. PPD awards for injured workers with Nevada workers’ compensation claims are based on a combination of three … Continue reading Will Accepting a PPD Award Affect My Job?
Am I Entitled to a PPD Award If I’m Released Full Duty?
By Jason Weinstock on March 14, 2012 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsInjured workers, employers, and even doctors on workers’ comp provider lists in Nevada remain confused about whether an injured worker who is able to return to work full duty is entitled to a permanent partial disability award. Depending on the injury, an injured worker may be entitled to a rating evaluation and an award, even … Continue reading Am I Entitled to a PPD Award If I’m Released Full Duty?
Should I Agree to the Insurer’s Rating Doctor?
By Jason Weinstock on March 6, 2012 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsIf your treating physician on your accepted workers’ compensation claim in Nevada reports to your claims adjuster that you may have a ratable impairment, you should be scheduled for an impairment evaluation 30 days later. This evaluation, also called a rating, will be done by one of the 138 doctors and chiropractors who have been … Continue reading Should I Agree to the Insurer’s Rating Doctor?
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
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
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
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
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?
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
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.
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
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
Permanent Partial Disability Evaluation Cost Increase
By Jason Weinstock on January 25, 2010 Posted in Permanent partial disability awardsThe State of Nevada, Division of Industrial Relations, has approved the Nevada Medical Fee Schedule effective February 1, 2010. It provides that rating physicians are entitled to charge $650.99 for a rating evaluation that includes up to two accepted body parts. The rating doctor may charge an additional $217.41 for each additional body part. Injured … Continue reading Permanent Partial Disability Evaluation Cost Increase
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