Older employees in Nevada who have a job accident resulting in an injury, or those who have an occupational illness don't fare very well under our current workers' compensation system.  For the majority of injured workers who have a work injury or illness who only miss a small amount of time and need a few visits to a doctor, the system works alright.  But those who have a serious work injury or occupational illness and who are older find the system isn't very friendly to them.  Here's why. First, an injury inflicted on an older body often takes longer to heal.  ...

  1. First, know how long the adjuster has to approve or deny your doctor's request.  Your adjuster has 30 days to accept or deny your Nevada work comp claim.  Expect only emergency care and clinic visits in the interim.  If your doctor doesn't think that diagnostic tests or treatment are necessary now, your only option is to ask for a provider list of alternate doctors.  If you ask in writing within the first 90 days of your claim, the adjuster must approve it.  The next doctor may agree that diagnostic tests...

All injured workers should get a copy of their medical records at some point.  Remember that your employer is being copied by the adjuster on all his/her letters to you and on some of your medical records. You should know what your doctor says about you and your injury, particularly if you are having problems with your claim. NAC 616C.120 confirms that the injured employee has the right to inspect or obtain his health care records pursuant to NRS 629.061.  That law allows a patient to request a copy of records from any health care provider, which includes therapists. The law states that the...

The Nevada Division of Industrial Relations has determined that meals and lodging for attending physician appointments will be paid at per diem reimbursement rates set by the U.S. General Services Administration. The rates vary by season and by the city or county that is your destination.  Your request for reimbursement for meals and lodging should be made on the mileage reimbursement form you use to request mileage payments from the insurer.  Please note that the rates also vary  for meals depending on whether it is your first or last day of travel.  Most rates for...

Orthopedic surgeon James Dettling, M.D. specializes in shoulder and knee injuries.  About half his patients are injured workers treating under a Nevada workers' comp claim.   He and long-time medical assistant, Patrick Boland, and their indispensable office manager, Diane,  stopped by my office today to meet my assistants and to chat over lunch.  I've known Dr. Dettling to give straightforward, honest opinions over the years, and I see excellent surgical results  .  I enjoyed having the lunch hour to ask Dr. Dettling about the problems he has treating work comp patients.  We commiserated...

                    Re-opening Your  Nevada Workers’ Compensation Claim  Know whether you have re-opening rights and when to time your request. Only injured workers who received a permanent partial disability award, or who were off work due to the work injury or occupational disease have lifetime reopening rights. The law makes it more difficult to re-open a claim within a year of the date a claim with lifetime reopening rights was closed. However, if you weren't off work or didn't receive a PPD award, you may only...

      Channel 3 had an inaccurate and one-sided report on fraud by injured workers yesterday.   Billie-Marie Morrison, a wonderful workers' compensation attorney with Craig P. Kenney & Associates wrote to the the reporter and asked him to make corrections and to also report on insurer and employer fraud.  We will see whether he does that. Meanwhile, let's hope that insurers don't seize upon this false picture painted by the media to deny more legitimate claims.        I'd love to see some reporting on the number of employers who falsely...