There is a renewed trend among particular self-insured employers and third-party administrators (TPA's) in Nevada to send a Notice of Claim Acceptance for "lumbar strain only" on  low back injury claims.  My fellow claimants'  attorneys are also noticing an increase in claims where adjusters are denying medical treatment for a herniated disc,  because the claim was accepted for a "lumbar strain" and the injured worker didn't file a timely appeal.   For those workers who truly have a lumbar strain, a  claims...

     Effective 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 example, the fee schedule states that the cervical spine constitutes one body part, the thoracic spine another body part, and the lumbar spine constitutes a separate body part for rating and billing...

     Injured employees in Nevada have a limited right to choose a treating doctor.  The workers' compensation insurer or third-party administrator for the employer has a list of doctors that have contracted to provide medical care at reduced fees.  Once the injured worker's claim is accepted, he or she has the right to ask for a different doctor on the provider list.  If the request is within the first 90 days of the claim, the adjuster handling the claim must approve the request.  Requests to change doctors made after 90 days can be denied, but...

 The most important benefit under the Nevada workers' compensation system is the injured employee's right to get medical treatment.  I have prior blog posts about the limitations on that right that are written into Nevada law, such as the limited right to choose a treating doctor.  I also just wrote about insurers' attempts to deny an injured employee's right to change doctors by directing care to doctors who will release the patient from care within the first 90 days of the claim.   In the past two months I have seen two insurers get even bolder by writing directly to...

 The Bellagio blackjack dealer whose face was slashed just before Christmas this past year filed a lawsuit this week against her employer and her jailed attacker, according to theLas Vegas RJ today (2/26/13).   The newspaper stated that the legal complaint against the Bellagio by the injured employee alleges that employer Bellagio failed to ensure the safety of its employees and failed to give her timely aid after her face was gashed with a razor blade by an attacker.  The article wasn't clear about the relationship between the attacker and the black jack dealer, but earlier...

A friend today asked me about about an article in the Las Vegas Sun today regarding a Metro office who was caught doing something stupid and is being prosecuted for theft related to his workers' compensation case.  The Nevada Attorney General is responsible under Nevada law for investigating and prosecuting any injured workers an insurer or self-insured employer believes is obtaining medical or compensation benefits fraudulently.  I don't represent the officer who is charged, and I don't know exact circumstances of his case.  The problem with the short article is that...

 Last week I had two cases involving two different workers' compensation insurers trying to use an injured worker's social media online presence to deny benefits.  In the first case, the adjuster sent the hearing officer  copies of photos from my client's Facebook page showing him playing softball.  The issue at the hearing was whether my client had legitimate medical excuses for not attending vocational  school.  The softball photos suggested that my client was lying about his worsened back injury and ability to attend school.  The insurer didn't see...