North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud is a profound and seemingly indelible problem that saps much needed resources, degrades trust in the system, and leads to hardship and chaos for dependants. Why, then, do so many people continue to perpetrate this crime?

For example, let’s look just over the border to West Virginia, where last week, owners of an Apple Dumplin in Oak Glen, West VA, Keith McBride and Lois Ventura, got hit with three charges of workers’ comp fraud. Investigators with the workers’ compensation fraud prosecution unit tracked the couple since July. Here’s the scoop. The 51-year-old Ventura was hurt last August at her former job at Big Cheese Pizza. She collected workers’ comp benefits as a result of that claim. All good. But then, in violation of the benefits arrangement, she started running an Apple Dumplin with her boyfriend, Mr. McBride, and continued to “receive cash and medical benefits through the workers’ compensation program.”

When questioned about his girlfriend’s allegedly fraudulent activities, McBride “reportedly misrepresented the facts of the case by stating that he was the sole owner of the business and had no knowledge of the workers’ compensation benefits Ventura was receiving.” Not a good move. Now both Ventura and her boyfriend face counts. On November 3, at their arraignment, they both pled not guilty. A court date has been set for January 10.

Obviously, based simply on news reports, you should avoid leaping to judgment. Unless you probe the back story, evidence, and other relevant details, it’s probably wise to withhold “convicting people in your mind,” if only to hone your ability to see life objectively.

For the sake of a discussion, let’s assume the charges are correct. What lessons can we extract?

First of all, the story suggests that a significant number of North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud cases probably result from unplanned errors and inappropriate innovations. In other words, while some people plan workers’ comp fraud far in advance, many people simply “stumble into it” because fraud is easier and faster than operating ethically.

Often, people who are simply trying to “scrape by” come to believe that somehow they have been wronged by the system and that they “deserve” to break the rules.

The story also suggests that many workers’ comp beneficiaries do not receive enough training to understand the limits of what they can and cannot do. People might know that violating workers’ comp rules is somehow “wrong” in the abstract, but they may not know the specific punishments that are likely to meet them if they commit a crime.

For excellent guidance, no matter what your situation, connect immediately with a qualified and compassionate North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

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Apple Dumplin couple hit with workers’ comp fraud charges.

Often, North Carolina workers’ compensation cases discussed on the blogosphere and elsewhere revolve around relatively “dry” issues, such as the minute, discrete meanings of definitions or jurisdictions. A hot-button case out of Las Vegas, however, will almost definitely have you sitting up in your chair:

Here is the scoop, according to the Las Vegas Sun.

Last week, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in the case of Gary Mogg, an employee for Fitzgeralds Casino Hotel assigned to monitor over three dozen television screens, acting in the capacity of “eye in the sky.” One day, in January 2008, Mogg made the seemingly innocuous decision to put his feet up on his desk. Lo and behold, he lost his balance and tipped over and severely hurt himself. Mogg claimed that the chair was defective and that he should be entitled to workers’ comp. The Casino, however, suggested that there was “implied prohibition” that prevented him from doing things like putting his feet up on his desk.

The courts have gone back and forth over whether this implied prohibition existed or not. Last week, the Nevada Supreme Court actually weighed in on the matter, ruling that “there was insufficient evidence for Gary Mogg…to qualify for industrial insurance payments.”

Reaction from the blogosphere was a bit sarcastic. One commenter, writing under the handle of BChap, wrote: “I am not of the opinion that this man should be compensated for this accident. However, if the resort is going to allow this individual to return to work, the employer should be sensitive to his medical needs and workplace safety. Maybe one of those apparatus’ that women utilize at the doctor’s office where the patient puts her feet up in the stirrups [should be installed for him.]”

If you or someone you care about has recently been hurt or made ill at work, you likely worry about having to endure this kind of sarcasm at your expense. To protect yourself and to ensure that you are treated justly not only by your employer and insurance companies but also by the system as a whole, connect immediately with a qualified North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

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Nevada Supreme Court rules in “feet up on the desk” case

Whether you’re a prospective North Carolina workers’ compensation beneficiary, or the relative or friend of someone who was recently hurt or injured at work (e.g. hurt while doing construction outside of Raleigh or sickened by repetitive stress syndrome contracted while working at a bank in the Research Triangle), you want help with getting fair compensation, holding wrongdoers accountable, and making sure insurers play fair.

Tackling all of these issues is of paramount importance. However, you may also want to analyze the broader context and think about why workplace accidents and injuries happen every year in North Carolina and beyond.

Are workers simply careless and negligent? Are employers careless or negligent? Is the system structured in a way that creates opportunities for injury/illness?

Perhaps. Perhaps. And perhaps.

However, there may be a “hidden cause” lurking underneath many workers’ comp cases. It’s a cause that doesn’t place blame employees or employers or even the system. The problem is a fundamentally human one. It’s the problem of creeping complacency.

Let’s analyze this.

When a new employee finds a job, he or she tends to enter the arena cautiously. New employees are more likely to listen to a supervisor’s instructions, handle complex machinery with care, and avoid overly ambitious or dangerous working conditions, such as working while fatigued, working without supervision, ignoring the company’s safety policies, etc. Likewise, employers tent to “dote on” new employees, putting them through rigorous reviews, following them through intra-company educational processes, and firing workers who violate company norms.

Dial forward several years (or, in some cases, several months), and that caution vanishes, or at least diminishes. Lassitude develops. Workers are allowed – or even encouraged – to push their limits, to “bend or break the rules” to get more done in less time and for less money. For instance, a construction worker, who in his first three months of working on a job would never use a sophisticated and dangerous piece of equipment without help, might, by month eight on the job, use that piece of equipment by himself, late at night, and without paying attention.

Which worker is going to be safer: The attentive rookie or the over-confident veteran?

Of course, “the complacency problem” is not the only fundamental cause of workplace injuries or illnesses, but it is one that is not discussed enough.

For specific help with a benefits question, connect with a time-tested and trusted North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

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The cost of complacency

How we become careless

In Part 1 of our series on how complacency at work impacts the North Carolina workers’ compensation system, we discussed how both workers and employers alike often act far more cautiously during the first few weeks and months of tenure.

After a certain amount of time, both the worker and the boss become comfortable with the processes and procedures, and a certain amount of slack sets in. This “slack” can be benign, neutral, or harmful. It can be benign when workers do their jobs in a more natural, fluid, resourceful way. It can be neutral when it has no impact. And it can be malignant when it creates the conditions for laziness, inaccuracy, and recklessness.

How can we prevent this third category – the malignant situations – from wreaking havoc and creating needless North Carolina workers’ compensation cases?

The “knee-jerk” response to this question might be: “The answer depends on the circumstances and specifics of the line of work.” And there is some truth to this response. An industrial worker who works with potentially dangerous equipment, like lathes or bulldozers, might require incremental training “refreshers” to stay sharp and focused and avoid malignant complacency. An office worker, on the other hand, at risk for developing carpal tunnel syndrome due to bad postural and typing habits, might require a very different kind of intervention. For instance, he or she might benefit from periodic massage or physical therapy, or even from changing around the office furniture every two months or so.

Businesses in general could do more to reduce worker/employer complacency. So could the government: state or even federal regulations could require certain businesses to retrain and resystematize their processes at regular intervals, for instance, to prevent malignant over-complacency. Of course, there are dangers with inherent over regulating, as well. So the policy problem is certainly a tough nut to crack. However, we should not give up on the dream of forging global-scale solutions to the complacency problem.

All this theory aside, however, you and your loved ones need help with a case. Connect with an experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm to get insight into your problems right now.

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The dangers of complacency

Beating Complacency

After a serious workplace injury or illness, you worked extremely hard to obtain North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits and stabilize your medical condition.

Unfortunately, your quest to heal has been anything but linear. Perhaps you initially suffered some kind of insult to your musculoskeletal system – severe carpal tunnel syndrome, for instance, brought on by working a desk job somewhere in the Research Triangle – but your diagnosis got complicated, after you noticed that the numbness and tingling sensations extended beyond the afflicted area. Alternatively, perhaps you suffered spinal damage during a car crash while on a work delivery, and the extent of the nerve damage has only recently manifested, leaving both you and your doctors relatively depressed about your prognosis.

Setbacks with your North Carolina workers’ compensation recovery are not exclusively medical.

You might experience psychological setbacks, such as depression, anxiety, frustration, and loss of self-confidence. You might simultaneously feel financial setbacks, as you are compelled to pay for complicated, extensive treatment and rehab – all while making do with a reduced income stream. What’s worse, the various workers’ comp injury/illness-related stresses in your life can play off of one another, provoking a kind of a downward spiral. For instance, in your more agitated, anxious state, you may hold your body tighter and experience higher cortisol levels, which can in turn exacerbate the musculoskeletal damage you suffered at work.

Repairing physical, psychological, and financial damage is no small task, even for the well prepared. While hurt and injured workers can make significant progress by working with a reputable North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm, you still could face some pretty profound hurdles to long-term wellness.

It’s tempting to try to “deal with” all these setbacks at once, but this approach can also be discouraging. Instead, make an attempt to incorporate small, positive changes in your life, behaviors, and perspective. Just getting your e-mail under control, for instance, can restore a modicum of control and help you manage your setbacks in a more thoughtful, less reactive way.

Also, remember that even though your injury or illness might have taken just a second or even a fraction of a second to develop, doesn’t mean that you can solve the situation in a lightning-quick fashion. Instead, keep your eye on the “long road of recovery,” accept your reality for what it is, and begin to make progress, step-by-step, to move beyond the setbacks you encountered and rebuild your life, career, health, and future.

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Small Positive Changes Really Add Up

Setbacks are More Common than You Think

In a recent blog post, we discussed how many beneficiaries (or would-be beneficiaries) on North Carolina workers’ compensation struggle with setbacks in multiple arenas, including medical, financial, emotional, logistical, and social.

To manage these setbacks, you might find it helpful to adopt proven strategies and tactics to keep yourself better organized, more in control of your life, more relaxed, and more resilient.

This blog post cannot cover every positive behavior or beneficial scheduling strategy. However, it hopefully can encourage you to take the process of self improvement more seriously. Here are a few small but effective “good habits” to inculcate to relieve the stress of your North Carolina workers’ compensation journey.

• Get into the habit of keeping your e-mail inbox “at zero” – try out productivity guru David Allen’s GTD system for controlling e-mail (see link at the bottom of the page).

• Spend more time and energy thinking through your problems instead of acting impulsively to solve them. Do the mental work of clarifying an ideal outcome, assessing your “on the ground reality,” and brainstorming ideas to move from your present reality to your idealized future in an effective, sure-fire, cheap, and easy way. In other words, seek to break out of the habit of “acting before thinking.”

• Seek help and outside input. It’s often very difficult for victims of workplace injuries or accidents to ask for help, because victims already feel like their pride and autonomy have been compromised. Consciously break through that barrier and get help from friends, colleagues, family members, and outside resources, like a competent North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

• Test “catastrophic thinking.” When we get hurt or injured – when our welfare, health, social status, etc., are threatened by events or by other people – we have a tendency to imagine worst-case, catastrophic outcomes. This is a normal, human thinking, and it’s not necessarily deleterious. In fact, it can be helpful to be vigilant, depending on the situation. However, we always want to test the reality of our thoughts – especially thoughts that agitate us, keep us from sleeping, or scare us into spending hours on the Internet searching for a description and diagnosis of our symptoms.

• Thinking realistically is different from being a pollyanna. You don’t want to ignore dangerous symptoms, be they indicators of medical, financial, or psychological problems. On the other hand, we also want to detach our emotions and fears from our thoughts and seek to see them with a clear, objective lens.

• How do you cultivate this kind of clear-headed thinking? Some experts recommend engaging in daily meditative practice, such as mindful mediation, concentrated prayer, or some other exercise that enhances focus and helps you avoid getting sucked up into catastrophic thinking.

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The Perils of Catastrophic Thinking

David Allen’s System for Controlling E-mail

Maybe you’ve been searching for reliable information on the North Carolina workers’ compensation system for just a few minutes – or maybe you’ve spent the better part of a day or even a week analyzing tips, tricks, do’s, don’ts, and resources online. Unless you have very clear and specific goals in mind, you are likely to encounter a certain degree of stress because the internet is so overstuffed with potentially useful information.

What can you do about this problem?

The problem transcends North Carolina workers’ compensation issues and affects everyone who uses the web. Unless you engage with the web in a very specific, predetermined way, your searching may expand beyond your expectations, eat up a lot of time and energy, and, worst of all, leave you feeling more stressed and less sure than you were before the search began.

For instance, let’s say that you really hurt your wrist after engaging in some kind of chronic office work in the Raleigh area. You think you might have “carpal tunnel syndrome,” but you are not sure what the real problem is.

You also think your employer should be held responsible to pay for your time off and therapy, but you are not sure exactly how to go about making that happen, and you are certainly not clear on the applicable laws and paperwork that might pertain to your situation.

By dipping your toe in the internet to search for solutions, you will certainly get a lot of information. But you will also get way more information than you need — not all of it reliable. Do you really need to read the fine print of your employer’s workers’ comp insurance policy? Even if you could get this information, how would you interpret it and put it into context? Can you self-diagnose your pain using seemingly smart-sounding information you find online? Possibly. Or possibly not. The introduction of all these uncertainties creates tremendous stress, which you might not be aware of until someone points it out to you.

The solution?

There is no single solution. But the more you can “outsource” your tasks to reliable entities, the better. For instance, a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you take care of the paperwork and ensure that employers and insurance companies play fair.

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Information overload – it’s getting worse

Is the web the cause of our ADD epidemic?

In Part I of our series on how internet-based “info overload” can make the quest for North Carolina workers’ compensation more stressful, we defined an underlying problem that leads to frustration and anger. Specifically, we discussed how researching North Carolina workers’ compensation related topics online can make even the most organized, purpose-driven researcher slightly mad. And we also talked about how the solution to the problem often involves outsourcing your researching activities to a better-equipped partner, such as a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

In this post, we are going to go bit deeper. We are going to ask the question: Why does all the researching make us nuts?

The answer is partly related to the “uncertainty factor.” In other words, when you research a lot online, you may actually learn quite a bit of useful information. Theoretically, this information should make your journey toward financial recovery and physical healing faster, safer, and more certain. But in practice, we often leave our research feeling more overwhelmed than ever.

The reason is not that we’ve learned too little – or even that our information is “bad” – instead we’ve learned too much!

You can see this phenomenon at work in medical students. When a young, would-be doctor is trained, he or she often learns about all sorts of different ways the human body can go wrong. Theoretically, this powerful medical knowledge should empower people. In practice, however, often the new knowledge makes med students anxious and despairing. Why? Because the med students come to fear they have all the different diseases they study. So they have gone from a state of blissful ignorance to a state of increased knowledge and increased anxiety.

This is probably going on with web searchers looking for answers about workers’ compensation. At first, you’re blissfully unaware of the potential problems – and also what you “should” be doing about them. By the time you finish researching, you realize just how “far behind” you are. This isn’t to say that ignorance will remain bliss forever. But it reinforces the earlier lesson that the key to digging out of this rabbit hole is to connect with reputable, experienced partners, who can answer your questions and help make the system work for you.

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Med students think they have every disease

Increased knowledge leads to increased anxiety

As this North Carolina workers’ compensation blog has opined numerous times, when individuals or institutions perpetrate workers’ comp fraud – or any other kind of fraud – “downstream” effects on workers, employers, insurers, and governmental institutions can be profoundly damaging. Indeed, the North Carolina workers’ compensation system works, when it does, because various parties trust one another to act fairly and in good faith.

That’s why it’s so disturbing to read stories like a recent account from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a local attorney pled guilty last week to embezzling more than $1 million from his clients and conspiring to commit workers’ comp fraud.

According to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, 61-year old Fred Schraeder will receive a “five-year deferred sentence and will pay more than $36,000 in restitution, $500 in fines and a $100 victim’s compensation assessment… Schraeder must surrender his law license and isn’t eligible to reapply while on probation.”

Schraeder did not act alone. He apparently had an accomplice, William Anton, who was sentenced in August to pay over $700,000 in restitution and serve “four consecutive sentences totaling 35-years, with 25-years suspended.”

The Attorney General’s Office claims that Schraeder and Anton embezzled money from clients between 2004 and 2009. They stole from their “personal injury benefits, insurance settlements and workers’ compensation benefits.” Over 49 victims were identified by the Attorney General’s office.

This disturbing story highlights how important it is for sick and injured people to work with trustworthy North Carolina workers’ compensation law firms. Just because an attorney or a law firm boasts a pretty website and ostensibly credible qualifications does not mean that the team will be a “best fit” for you. Before you select your law firm, ask many questions, really research your prospective firms, and make sure you choose a firm that has a reputation for ethical behavior as well as for getting good results in complex cases similar to yours.

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Oklahoma attorney embezzles over $1 million dollars from clients

Charges filed against Schraeder and Anton

An October 20 AP article reports that entrepreneurs, corporations, and other free enterprise groups are considerably satisfied with the 2011 North Carolina workers’ compensation reforms.

What about the rest of us?

Before we delve into the point/counterpoint, let’s quickly review the findings of a North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation Survey. The group found that “66% of [NC] senate members consistently support [pro-business] viewpoints, compared to 42% two years ago. In the house, it grew from 49% to 61%.”

The legislature has had a busy 2011. In addition to changing the North Carolina workers’ compensation rules, lawmakers altered medical liability litigation processes and also changed the rules by which local governments can provide high-speed internet.

That the General Assembly has become more “business friendly” should not surprise anyone; Republicans took control of the body in the 2010 elections, and Republicans, in general, tend to side with free enterprise advocates.

Notwithstanding, obviously, many lawmakers seem pretty excited with the changes and pleased with themselves for passing them. But are these changes really creating fairness in the system, saving money, and fixing the long-term structural problems which have bedeviled the workers’ comp system and other similar institutions?

Part of the problem with assessing the changes is that the North Carolina workers’ compensation reforms did not occur in a vacuum. They occurred amidst a period of tumultuous change, both in the state and on the national stage. Thus, if, in the wake of the reforms, the state witnesses business growth, favorable changes to employee health, etcetera, one cannot conclude that the changes in the law caused or even contributed to the positive effects.

Of course, likewise, if what follows during the next several years is less than ideal, for businesses, employees, and insurance companies, and one should hesitate before pinning blame on the workers’ comp reforms.

The law is, in many ways, a subset of a larger, much more complicated dynamic system. From a strictly scientific perspective, it may be nearly impossible to effectively “suss out” how small reforms to various laws ultimately redound to affect things like the regional business climate or the relative health and well being of workers.

But that’s all a little heady, especially if you are a hurt or injured worker who needs guidance through the system. A North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you understand your rights and responsibilities and advocate for yourself successfully.

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North Carolina free enterprise foundation

NC general assembly is more business friendly?

Last week, per the St. Petersburg Times, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced that the Sunshine state’s workers’ comp rates will be jacked up by nearly 9%, effective January 1, 2012. It’s a move that has many experts, analysts, and small business owners in the North Carolina workers’ compensation community mulling over the ramifications.

McCarty’s office rejected a proposal by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), stating that the methodology the NCCI used was faulty. He defended the fact that Florida will still have “the lowest workers’ comp rates among large states and the lowest rates in the southeast.” Prior to the changes in FLs workers’ comp laws back in 2003, the Sunshine state “consistently had one of the country’s highest workers’ compensation rates.”

Not surprisingly, Florida’s Director of the National Federation of Independent Business was less than pleased, calling the 8.9% hike “a very substantial increase in the cost of labor over the course of two very difficult years for small employers.”

So what can we make of this rate hike, especially in light of this year’s reforms to North Carolina workers’ compensation laws? Do they indicate a regional trend? Will the subtle changes in Florida and North Carolina rules and regulations impact the flow of business across the region? If so, how? How can one accurately measure this impact, if it exists at all?

These questions are obviously theoretical, but answering them is vital if we want to ensure fairness for hurt and injured workers and help small businesses in the region position themselves for growth, flexibility, and opportunity.

Finding the “perfect rate” for workers’ compensation is a balancing act that never ends.

The sheer diversity and number of variables involved would blow the circuits of even the world’s biggest super computer. That’s why it’s important to test and reassess how changes like the ones in North Carolina and Florida impact businesses, insurance companies and even the relative “joie de vivre” of the workers’ themselves.

For more specific, grounded help with a workers’ comp question, connect with an experienced, highly respected North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm for a free consultation.

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Florida workers’ comp rates to rise 8.9%

The National Federation of Independent Business official website

In the struggle to obtain North Carolina workers’ compensation, hurt and injured workers often think only one or two steps ahead.

So let’s think four or five steps ahead today.

What will happen once you recover from your injury or illness and return to work? What might the environment be like at work? What challenges might you face in terms of re-acclimating? What should you do if and when co-workers or superiors want to discuss your time off or even challenge whether or not you needed or deserved workers’ comp benefits in the first place?

These questions are all quite complicated to answer. But it is worth discussing strategies for how to avoid “weirdness” after you return to the office. Here are some suggestions:

• Prepare a spiel in advance to answer basic questions about why you went on workers’ comp, what it was like, and how you recovered and got back to work. This might sound silly, but you may want to actually practice this spiel at home with a spouse or a friend. This way, you will have a quick, snappy answer that will ward off unwanted questions and staunch nosey gossip.

• Don’t expect to “normalize” everything on day one. Expect that there will be an adjustment period. Even if you did not go on an extensive North Carolina workers’ compensation leave, and you never had to fight with your employer over your treatment, it’s totally normal to feel disoriented and a bit out of sorts during your first days and weeks back on the job. So provide yourself a break.

• Understand what you can and cannot say about your workers’ compensation agreement. This is critical. Depending on the terms of the settlement, you may not want to disclose certain aspects of your care or talk about the terms with co-workers or superiors. Consult with your North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm before returning to your job to make sure you understand the do’s and don’ts.

• If it’s too weird for you to stay at your job, even after you’ve spent some time and energy and resources trying to re-acclimate, consider switching companies or even changing careers. Understand your skill set, needs, and utility, and recognize that you are never “stuck” at your job. You can always harness new ways of thinking, outside resources, and vocational training to “begin again” or make lateral career moves.

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Returning to work after a long absence

How to tell if your co-workers are jealous

Current law allows only human workers to collect benefits through the North Carolina workers’ compensation system. And perhaps that is fair and just. After all, although our nation’s cats, dogs, hamsters and fish take a fair amount of abuse – especially from curious toddlers – most of these furry friends (or scaly friends or feathered friends or what have you) do not get hurt while actively engaged productive labor.

However, there are exceptions. For instance:

• Firehouse dogs.

What happens to an adorable spotted Dalmatian who tags along with his fire crew and then one day gets caught in a ladder during a rescue operation and loses the ability to wag that adorable little tail forever more?

• Bomb and drug sniffing dogs.

These highly trained pooches spend their time identifying booby traps, drug mules, nefarious packages, and the like. They can easily find themselves in work-related situations that lead to injury. For instance, one can only speculate on the fate of a bomb sniffing dog who identifies a ticking piece of luggage “too late” to do anything about the “ticking.”

• Show tigers.

Most Americans are familiar with the horrific big cat attack that ended the long renowned Vegas act of Siegfried and Roy. While most news analyses of the Siegfried and Roy disaster focused on the agony the trainer endured, one can imagine that the big cat also suffered in the incident. If so, should the cat be entitled to compensation for the injuries and trauma he suffered on the job?

Of course, this post is meant to be facetious. It is not meant to belittle the cause of North Carolina Workers’ Compensation. And animals hurt “in the line of duty” often do have terrific care options at their disposal, including money for bills and the like.

On the flip side, hurt workers are often treated in “less than humane” ways by employers, insurance companies, and the workers’ comp bureaucracy.

Workers’ comp, philosophically at least, is about much more than dry issues like monetary compensation and regulations. It’s about fundamental human rights.

For help with a specific legal question, connect with a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

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What happens to a firedog injured on the job?

The Siegfried and Roy Disaster

Maybe you’ve been on North Carolina Workers’ Compensation for months or years as you work feverishly to heal your life, your finances, your body, and your stamina. Or maybe you are only exploring workers’ comp options. At some point, most likely, you will have to face the “end of the line” as far as your benefits are concerned.

Whether you consider this “fair” or not – whether you have legal means to fight the end of your benefits or not – you need to make adjustments to your lifestyle, budgeting, and possibly career path to accommodate the transition. Make no mistake: the transition can be quite difficult. You’ve gotten used to a certain way of living, a certain way of thinking about your income, and certain habits and expectations. Even if you’ve known that the “dry up” was coming for months or years, you can only prepare so much in the abstract.

When the reality hits – when you stop getting checks — you must make due with far less money. You may panic and potentially even make bad or dangerous decisions that can imperil your body, your recovery, or worse. Indeed, financial panic often drives uninformed, desperate people to commit crimes like North Carolina Workers’ Compensation fraud – crimes that can be prosecuted as felonies and lead to substantial prison time as well as the catastrophic destruction of your professional life.

The process of weaning yourself off benefits does not have to be agonizing, however. The more planning you can do, the better. And don’t simply focus on “planning your finances.” Focus on the psychological preparation. Understand that you will need some time to adjust to your new reality and to accommodate for the stresses of the transition. Maybe set aside some “special treats” for yourself during the transition. For instance, plan an inexpensive vacation (e.g. camping trips in the woods or meditation retreat) or spend some time with your family or close friends – a so-called “staycation.” Or give yourself permission to indulge in a treat, like a fun meal out, or fancy new gadgets from Apple or your other favorite tech product purveyor. (Obviously, don’t spend beyond your means when you get these “treats”.)

All that said, the doom and gloom you are feeling maybe a bit premature. Investigate your resources by connecting with a compassionate, skilled and thorough North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

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After Your Benefits “Dry Up”

Transitioning to Life with a Reduced Income Stream

The Washington Times has reported on a relatively minor workers’ comp case in Virginia that may ultimately have bearing – perhaps substantial bearing – on North Carolina workers’ compensation law.

Why would a struggle over a mere $4,000 workers’ comp award have national implications?

Simply put, because the case pertains to whether professionals injured in cell phone related automobile accidents should be reimbursed by workers’ comp. The debate is controversial, emotionally charged, and interesting. Before we examine the broader implications, let’s take a look at the specifics of this case.

Donna Turpin was a hospice nurse on call late one night in November 2009, when she received a call on her cell phone, which was tucked into her uniform. Distracted by the call, Ms. Turpin drove off the road and hit an embankment. She suffered some injuries and damage to her vehicle, but it was otherwise a minor incident.

Should Ms. Turpin be entitled to workers’ comp, since her employer knew to contact her via her cell phone if the employer-provided pager did not work? According to testimony, she had responded to 12 pages or calls earlier that same day. Ms. Turpin testified that she was “programmed” to tune into her beeper and cell phone to answer medical or hospice emergencies. Did it matter whether the message was work related or not? The judge decided that, in this case, it did not.


However, the judge’s ruling had some nuance: “the mere possibility that a call on a cell phone might originate from an employer does not make any injury that occurs while the employee attempts to respond to the call, or received call, one that arises out of employment.”

So what are the broader implications? The Washington Times report suggests that the unpublished opinion “could contribute to debates in cases involving doctors, reporters, food delivery drivers, and others whose work is tied to urgent cell phone calls.”

No doubt, in the following years, we will see a spate of circumstances similar to Ms. Turpin’s. In this case, the costs were low. Ms. Turpin only asked for $4,000 to treat her whiplash and pay for an ambulance and an emergency room visit. Fortunately, she returned to work that very weekend. But what might happen if and when a worker stops to answer a cell phone or pager and causes a catastrophic accident – perhaps one with fatalities – and seeks damages on the order of six or seven figures? We will likely see bigger headlines then, and the implications could stir up even more debate in the blogosphere.

The takeaway is that hurt workers need to examine and understand their legal rights. A North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you make sense of what happened to you and determine how and whether to pursue a case against an insurer or other entity.

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Workers’ Comp Case Upheld in Cell Phone Related Crash

Nurse Injured While Glancing at Cell Phone Due Workers’ Comp

Few people dream of committing North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud. But the temptation to “cheat” on your paperwork and collect a little more than you might be legally entitled to can lead to life-changing disasters.

Witness the fate of 31-year-old Patrick Rosenzweig, a New Yorker charged on October 6 with attempting to defraud The New York State Insurance Fund out of $3,973.24. According to a report in a local newspaper, The Wayne Post, “[Rosenzweig] was charged with workers’ compensation fraud, making a fraudulent statement in workers’ compensation insurance applications, offering a false instrument for filing the paperwork and grand larceny.”

Rosenzweig now faces a smattering of felony charges. If convicted of any of them, he could face over a year in jail… all for trying to obtain workers’ comp while he was still working.

What can the Rosenzweig ordeal teach us? First of all, note the cost benefit analysis. Assuming he had gotten away with this alleged scam, he would have collected an extra $4,000. But he didn’t, and he now faces huge fines and possibly significant time behind bars. Assuming he ordinarily made something along the lines of $60,000 a year, and he gets three years of jail for the felonies, he will be out close to $200,000 for committing a crime that would have only netted him around $4,000.

All this is to say that North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud does not pay off.

That being said, one can still be sympathetic and compassionate here. Hurt workers often lack the job training, skills, and resources to make ends meet. If you are a mother of two who got hurt at work – not badly enough to receive workers’ comp, but badly enough to struggle with day-to-day activities – you might be tempted to break the law and lie on your paperwork. The impulse comes from a place of wanting good help. Instead of making reckless, illegal decisions, however, make responsible choices.

For instance, connect with a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm to review your options for getting more compensation or to find other resources to make ends meet.

More Web Resources:

Canandaigua Man Charged with Workers’ Comp Fraud

Making the Most Out of Your Reduced Income

What can be done to reduce or even eliminate North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud?

To solve this dilemma, we need to look beyond our state’s borders and pick apart relevant news stories, data, analyses, and arguments compiled by experts. It’s all well and good to theorize about different methods to deal with, manage, or punish North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud. It’s another story altogether to operate in the “real world” and get good results.

Even “small scale” cases of fraud can yield surprisingly relevant and far-reaching lessons, if we understand how to appreciate these stories in context. Consider a small bore story about workers’ comp fraud in Des Moines, Iowa. As the AP reported on September 23, the president of DES Staffing, Dinesh Sethi, plead guilty last week to wire fraud: “He acknowledged that he participated in a scheme to defraud Travelers Insurance and Liberty Mutual between 2006 and 2009 by giving the insurers’ false information to calculate the firm’s premiums…he and his Director of Finance shifted payroll from high-premium job classification codes to lower-premium codes such as clerical workers.”

Per the plea arrangement, Sethi’s five other charges have been dropped, and prosecutors will not go after either his company or his family. He will face sentencing at the end of December.

So is it really possible for us to extrapolate from this small case and learn more widely applicable lessons?

Maybe so.

Here are three lessons:

Lesson number one: Outsized punishments can affect criminals who commit even small, technical crimes.

In the grand scheme of things, Sethi’s wrongdoings (or alleged wrongdoings) are relatively tame, if you measure them against other criminal acts, like felony murder, vehicular manslaughter while DUI, and massive multimillion-dollar Medicare schemes. But he could still face jail time and other career-ending punishments for what he did.

Lesson Number Two: Schemes can go on for a while before the authorities step in, but con artists are never safe.

According to the AP article, Dinesh and his finance director perpetrated fraud for approximately four years before getting busted. The long arm of the law, however, finally caught up.

Lesson Number Three: It’s almost always worth the time and effort to ensure you are operating fairly, ethically, and legally.

Many people who commit fraud do so inadvertently, or at least without knowledge of the consequences. A sick mother on workers’ comp leave, for instance, may take a second job to try to earn a little extra money for her family, oblivious to the fact that taking the second job violates her workers’ comp arrangement.

To protect your rights and ensure that you stay within the bounds of the law, always consult with an experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

More web resources:

Des Moines exec pleads guilty to insurance fraud

Ankeny man pleads guilty to insurance fraud

According to a recent article in the Charlotte Business Journal, business leaders throughout the state are still in a state of giddy glee regarding recent changes to North Carolina workers’ compensation law. According to the President of North Carolina’s Chamber of Commerce, Lew Ebert, the reforms – the first such changes to the law in 17 years – have helped make the state more competitive. Ebert and other business leaders long complained that North Carolina had gotten “behind” other states in terms of their workers’ comp laws.

They pointed out that our state’s injury rate is one of the lowest in the United States; whereas the average cost per North Carolina workers’ compensation claim was pretty high at $42,000. According to the Charlotte Business Journal, the changes in the law will also influence insurance premiums for businesses, thus helping them stay competitive. Lat Williams, a marketing vice president based in Charlotte, told the Business Journal: “North Carolina is probably B or C” but thanks to the changes, the state “will probably upgrade to B, and it might even go up to A.”

Manufacturers also see other “wins” including:

• The size of the North Carolina industrial commission has been shrunk;
• The reforms allow certain employers to more easily communicate with employee physicians and give workers temporary, light-duty jobs.

Lawmakers designed the law, ideally, to help both employers and employees. For instance, the Charlotte Business Journal article details one provision that, at least in theory, might help both workers and employers: “Workers on light duty will still earn as much as if they were on workers’ comp, or up to two-thirds of their previous salary. If the new job pays less, workers’ comp makes up the difference.”

So is it all a win-win? Manufacturers and employers win as well as workers?

At this point, it’s too early to tell. From a worker’s perspective, the final compromised bill passed in June was certainly better than the original draft proposed – the earlier drafts were tilted even more towards industry.

But if you need assistance with a claim or a possible claim, you don’t have to deal with your situation in a vacuum. A qualified, competent, experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you figure out your next steps.

More web resources:

How changes in workers’ comp will affect NC manufacturers

An overview of the new NC workers’ compensation laws

North Carolina workers’ compensation beneficiaries often fight battles on multiple fronts.

You fight with insurance companies to make sure they make good on benefits and pay you on time. You fight with employers – or even your employer’s parent company – to get fair and just treatment. You fight with your doctors and medical staff to ensure that you get adequate care, answers to your questions, and the right medication and rehabilitation. You may even fight with random strangers on the street, who sadly and inaccurately believe that North Carolina workers’ compensation is only for people who want to “leech off the system.” You also fight with your own body, to try to heal it as quickly as possible.

At the end of all that fighting, you are likely exhausted. The last thing you want to do is fight with friends and allies – particularly your spouse or partner.

Unfortunately, when you are hurt or injured, your entire family may become stressed. First of all, you may temporarily lose an income stream. Second, you may need significant medical care. Third, you may need logistical support. Fourth, your partner or spouse may lose out on a critical ally to help with child care. Fifth, any big change – good, bad, positive, or neutral – temporarily increases stress. Think about the last time you moved offices, started a new job, etc.

All those stresses would challenge even the most perfect relationship. And most of us do not have perfect relationships. So the stresses will likely push on the fault lines in your relationship that have already been giving you trouble.

So how do you break the cycle? How do you find peace, protect your spouse’s needs and also protect your own needs in your relationship?

There is no quick, snappy answer here. But taking small but certain steps toward resolving some of your uncertainty, frustration, and stress will relieve the burdens on your family and could possibly benefit your relationship. As the old saying goes, “a rising tide lifts all ships.”

So how do you “raise the tide” and make your life less stressful, fretful, and uncertain?

Here are five solutions:

1. Connect with a reputable North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm to get answers to burning questions about your situation.

2. Practice 15 minutes of mindfulness meditation (focusing on “just the breath”) every day.

3. Write down “best-case scenario” outcomes for your workers’ comp case and read them aloud at least twice a day.

4. Regularly re-read the serenity prayer.

5. Improve your diet to reduce stress and medical problems by limiting your consumption of sugar – particularly liquid sugar.

More web resources:

The serenity prayer

A rising tide lifts all ships

As regular readers of this blog know, the quest for a successful resolution to a North Carolina workers’ compensation issue can take months, require significant mental and logistical energy, and lead to profound challenges as well as surprising opportunities. To make the best progress, you should keep a clean, coherent, private, and ideally “backed up” record of your experience in the North Carolina workers’ compensation system.

To that end, here are several “rules of thumb” to maintain order in your records, safeguard critical information, protect evidence, and take action to spend less time fretting over your workers’ comp case and more time rebuilding your body, life, and vocational skills.

1. Collect anything that might be relevant to your North Carolina workers’ compensation case.

This “anything” could include medical assessments, transcripts of conversations you’ve had with insurance companies, a journal of thoughts and feelings about your injuries, receipts for medical care, and records of your conversations with friends, associates, and colleagues. Basically, if there is even a slim chance this information might be useful or relevant, write it down.

2. Collect everything in one place.

Create a folder to store all requisite documents, transcripts, etc. Don’t let materials get scattered all over the place in various piles around your office, desk, etc.

3. Make backups and secure potentially sensitive materials.

Use electronic data backup solutions, third-party data security management technologies, etc. Consider keeping certain documents, data, recordings, computer files, etc., stashed in a safe or lock box. Make copies of important information that might get lost.

4. Keep a running list of all your “active” workers’ compensation projects, along with the “next actions” associated with each project.

Productivity guru David Allen considers a “project” anything that needs to get done that takes more than one step to do. According to Allen’s methodology, ideally, you want to have a running list of all your projects – with an ideal outcome associated with each one of them. You also want to create a separate list of specific, concrete options associated with your projects. So, if one of your projects is “retain the services of a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm,” the next action associated with that item might be “R&D firms online and talk to friends and colleagues for their recommendations.”

More web resources:

David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” System

Tools, Tricks and Traps of Organizing

Brace yourself. You are about to discover a powerful tool to tackle challenges with your North Carolina workers’ compensation issues… and many other issues you confront in your life, relationships, finances, you name it.

Drum roll please … the solution is: You need to write down your problems and what you want to do about them, and then review what you have written repeatedly, every day, every night, and keep this up for months.

That’s it.

That might sound overly simplistic. Possibly you’ve tried keeping journals, writing down affirmations, etc., in the past, and you weren’t particularly impressed by the experience. But research in diverse fields shows that repeated visualization and affirmations can powerfully change the way people think. When you read self-help books, productivity guides, and scientific research on productivity, you repeatedly encounter this advice: Your thoughts affect the dynamics of your life and your potential for success or failure.

Thus, if you make a purposeful, committed, repeated effort to alter how you think, the issues that you have with North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits or other problems may resolve themselves.

There is no magic involved. Rather, when you prime your subconscious and unconscious with repeated affirmations about a certain goal that you want to achieve or mental state you want to feel, your subconscious/unconscious takes the hint.

This may sound like hokum. But if you’ve never tried doing visualization, consider giving it a shot. Think of the most frustrating, annoying, scary problem you have right now regarding your workers’ compensation. Write it down on a piece of paper – be as specific as possible. For instance, maybe you’re stressed out about how your employer has treated you. You are angry and annoyed. You expected more after all of your years of service.

Now, write down how you would like this circumstance to be resolved in an ideal world. Maybe you might write something like: “I have made peace with my employer, settled on compassionate, fair terms, and moved on with my life in a way that’s untainted and unscarred by what happened to me.”

Next thing to do is to look at that “ideal outcome statement” every morning and every night and to do that for several weeks or several months. Obviously, doing this won’t necessarily change anything. But it might change how you approach resources, challenges, and opportunities.

Of course, having said all that, there is no replacement for a powerful, skilled, and strategic North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm to help you get the results you need.

More web resources:

The Importance of Writing Things Down

Outcome Visualization

What will the North Carolina workers’ compensation system look like 50, 100, 200, 500 years from now?

This isn’t just an absurd exercise in speculation. It is an important visualization. If the North Carolina workers’ compensation community is collectively going to make progress, break through obstacles, help people achieve better care, help businesses and insurers get a squarer deal, and so forth, then we must collectively have a conversation about the long-term future.

In a recent blog post, we discussed some of the boundaries and principles of this kind of prognostication exercise.

Now we are going to have some fun and speculate:

• Radical changes in dietary policy coupled possibly with pharmaceutical breakthroughs will help North Carolinians and the rest of the American populous defeat or at least make substantial progress against the so-called diseases of Western civilization, including obesity, diabetes, cancer, and dementia. The resulting transformation will ease our healthcare burdens substantially, but also introduce new problems.

• Amazing new technologies will make certain kinds of common workplace injuries either completely uncommon, or at least not as dangerous as they once were.

• Data sharing technology, pattern recognition software, and complex systems analyses will allow us to recognize certain dangerous activities that cause or exacerbate workplace illness and injuries – and allow us to create far more targeted approaches to wellness.

• Certain core problems based on evolutionarily limits of the human body will confound even the most futuristic technologies – at least for a long, long, long time. For instance, repetitive stress damage to the musculoskeletal system (e.g. repetitive stress syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome) may persist and even get worse and contribute to more and more North Carolina workers’ compensation problems.

• In retrospect, the technologies, solutions, and transformation of workers’ comp will seem “obvious” to our children, grandchildren, and beyond. Just like we now think of the internet and television as “obvious” and easy to use, so too will our successors think of today’s and tomorrow’s innovations as “obvious.”

Speculation can be fun and interesting and ultimately generate powerful insights, but speculation doesn’t replace the common sense and knowledgeable insight you can get from a compassionate and proven North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

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Futurism

Limits to Futurism

The doomsdayers and cynics fret that the North Carolina workers’ compensation system is in sad shape, and it’s only going to get sadder and scarier as the baby boomer generation ages and the state and national economies stagnate or contract. And we may very well face tough times in the years – and even decades – ahead.

But what about the really long term? What’s going to happen to the North Carolina and the U.S. workers’ compensation systems in 50, 100, 200 years from now?

Speculation about the future is riddled with artifacts from present day bias. No matter how farsighted we may think we are, we are inevitably trapped in the present moment – culturally, intellectually, and otherwise. So we tend to see the future through the lens of the present, and that colors our vision of what might be possible and what might be impossible.

For instance, if you look at old science fiction made in the 1950s and 1960s, you will see references to technologies that are still way, way, way out of our reach, such as sentient robots, flying cars, etc. You’ll also see references to technologies that are, by our modern standards, totally outdated. For instance, very few thinkers back then could even conceive of something like the world wide web, and these fictional worlds are often laughably “backwards” because of their lack of incorporation of something like the web.

This isn’t to say that the future of the North Carolina workers’ compensation system is forever out of the grasp of present-day minds. Indeed, it’s probably worth it to at least take a few educated guesses. Even if these guesses are wrong, this kind of visualization can powerfully guide our thinking.

Here are a few rules of thumb:

• “Correct” future predictions will almost certainly be confounded or complicated by “incorrect” assumptions or predictions. In other words, even the most astute futurists only get some of the stuff right, some of the time.

• Certain fundamental truths about human behavior and about our relationship with technology can help guide us and shape our vision;

• Problems that seem intractable today may disappear or even be made irrelevant due to the technologies or insights of tomorrow;

• Similarly, there is a good chance that the grand visions of today will be rendered less relevant in the future due to the same kinds of disruptive innovations and insights.

A subsequent blog post will tackle specific prognostications. But if you have actionable, present-day question about workers’ comp issues, connect with a reputable, strategic North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm to work through your issues and achieve success.

More Web Resources:

Being right and wrong at the same time

The future is fundamentally opaque

Policy wonks and ethicists in the North Carolina workers’ compensation community have been riveted by a case unfolding in nearby Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. Allegedly, a local police officer there stole over $22,000 workers’ comp checks over an eight-month period (from September 7, 2009 to May 3, 2010). The officer, Derrick Lange, hurt himself in an August 2009 foot pursuit and had to see a hand specialist for ongoing pain in his hand and wrist. After a specialist advised him to stay off of work after surgery, Lange began collecting workers’ comp payouts. But Lange later made an agreement that allowed him to collect his regular salary as long as he turned over the worker comp checks that he had collected.

Apparently, the 31-year-old officer ignored the terms of arrangement and actually deposited the checks into his bank account. Eventually, the insurance company that represents the Waynesboro Municipality caught on and alerted local authorities, who arrested Lange on Tuesday, September 7th and held him on a $15,000 bail. A September 21st preliminary hearing has been scheduled. Lange faces charges of theft by failure to deposit the funds that he received.

As this case illustrates nicely, abuses of the North Carolina workers’ compensation system can take many forms and can be years in the making. Individuals who defraud the system or cheat insurance companies or lie about their injuries can not only suffer grievous legal consequences – including having money stripped away from them and having to serve jail time (in some cases) – but they also endanger the efficacy of the entire system. For instance, an act of fraud has a “ricochet effect” throughout the system: insurers tend to trust claimants less and so they subject them to more bureaucracy and more invasive follow up. When money gets siphoned out of the system, employers and insurers try to make up those costs by doing things like cutting benefits, jacking up rates, and scrimping on service to save.

All this is to say that, if you or someone you care about wants to pursue a claim, make sure that you “dot all the Is and cross all the Ts” and that you stay away from anything even vaguely resembling illicit or unethical action. All that said, just because you play fair doesn’t mean that your employer or a responsible insurance company will play fair with you. To that end, if you are having trouble with any aspect of your claim, connect with a competent and battle proven North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm to develop a strategy to get the compensation due to you efficiently and quickly.

More Web Resources:

The saga of Derrick Lange

Waynesboro police officer Derek Lange arrested for theft after allegedly stealing more than $22,000 in worker’s compensation checks

Doctors have their Hippocratic Oath: “First, do no harm.” North Carolina workers’ compensation beneficiaries should also have an oath along those lines: “First, don’t make your medical situation worse.”

This advice should probably go without saying. Obviously, no one wants to get sick. And once we are sick, we generally want to do everything we can to get better – and quickly.

But there is a big gulf between believing that good care should be applied and living a healthy lifestyle, even if you’re injured or sick.

In a twisted version of the idea “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer,” often, the “sick get sicker.” In other words, once you already have an illness or injury, you become vulnerable to all sorts of medical and physical problems that you were previously invulnerable to.

For instance, say you broke your leg in an industrial plant, after your foot caught in an unmarked rut. Now, not only must you deal with the broken leg and all the complications the injury has created, but you also must protect yourself from favoring the other leg too much and causing wear and tear on the other leg. Your immune system could also be compromised by an injury/illness, making you susceptible to things like the flu or infections. And so on.

Once you get sicker and sicker, the situation becomes a vicious cycle. Hurt and sick workers often develop a mindset that “I am never going to get better,” which perpetuates/exacerbates the cycle. At some point, you need to break the cycle and start building toward “healthier and healthier.”

Obviously, one key to do that is great medical care – a proper, complete diagnosis; effective, compassionate, thorough medical treatment; the right medicines; the right diet; the right kind of exercises, and rehab plan, etc. You also may need to reprogram how you think about your health and make conscious choices to stop engaging in practices that you know are destructive but which you could “get away with” back when you were healthy. Practices like smoking cigarettes or cigarillos, “pushing yourself hard” as a weekend warrior in a volleyball or touch football league, or binging on root beer floats.

When you treat your body and mind with compassion – and with good care – you might be surprised at how quickly you are able to spring back from your injury/illness and take on the world again.

Connect with a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

More web resources:

Breaking Free from Your Cigarette Addiction.

Breaking Free from Your Sugar Addiction.

Contrary to the stereotypes that some people have about hurt and sick people on North Carolina workers’ compensation – that these people are lazy, indolent, and disinterested in returning to work – most beneficiaries usually fantasize about how and when they can return to complete and productive lives. Very few people want to sit around at home, click around the internet, and work without a plan for getting back to some kind of productive, satisfying work.

Indeed, work is a deep human need.

To that end, many injured workers actually stress themselves too fast and do too much too soon. In a two-part series, we are going to look at why workers do this, what problems result from this “too aggressive” approach to rehab, and talk about solutions that you and your family can deploy to prevent the “too much too soon” problem and still maximize the efficiency of your efforts toward rebuilding your life after a workplace accident.

First, let’s talk a little bit more about what exactly this problem is:

Warning Signs

Are you at risk for “too much too soon”? Whether you are a newly minted North Carolina workers’ compensation beneficiary, or you got hurt or sick on the job years ago, you might be at risk of pushing your mind and/or body too hard if:

• You and your family face urgent financial problems;
• You have a “Type A” personality;
• You love your work and can’t wait to return to it;
• There has been an urgent need for physical labor around the house – e.g. your family desperately wants to repair a room damaged by a branch fallen down during a hurricane;
• You have a history of pushing yourself too hard in other areas of your life, such as at work and in relationships.

Consequences

Pushing yourself too hard can result in aggravation of your injury or illness or reinjury. It can lengthen the time that you are out on leave. It can create new injuries or illnesses. It can result in other accidents. For instance, if you are too weak to paint your house, but you decide to paint it anyways, you probably stand a greater likelihood of getting hurt while doing so – falling off the ladder, suffering heat stroke, etc.

Solutions

In the next blog post, we will talk more about practical, creative, out-of-the-box solutions for the “too much too soon” problem. But for now if you have questions or concerns about your benefits and about how to maximize the law and protect yourself from malevolent insurance companies and bosses who won’t play fair, connect with an astute, experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

More Web Resources:

Too Much, Too Soon

Why we push ourselves

In Part 1 of our series on how “too much too soon” can devastate North Carolina workers’ compensation beneficiaries, we defined this often misunderstood problem. When hurt and sick workers feel an obligation to “get back out there” and return to work early to make ends meet, they can suffer reinjury, other accidents, and psychological setbacks.

In the second part, we are going to talk about what North Carolina workers’ compensation beneficiaries and their family members can do to “outthink” this tendency to want to overwork.

Here are three ideas:

• Set concrete, doable goals for your medical and vocational recovery and work toward them.

As the tired (but still true!) old adage goes: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” As long as the hurt or sick worker feels like he or she is making progress toward a better future, he or she might avoid straining or taking on too much too soon. But success must be clearly defined. Make success as quantifiable as possible, so that working toward it can be more like playing a video game than like running a marathon toward an ever-elusive and receding finish line. For instance, maybe one goal could be to regain the ability to walk without crutches two months faster than your doctor says you will be able to.

• Get help.

You are proud and strong worker, and the thought of having to turn to other people – such as a wife or spouse, family members, or public assistance – may seem less than palatable. But now is not the time for foolish pride. Seek out and utilize other sources of help to take care of the physical tasks that you can’t manage right now.

• Get good legal assistance to reduce uncertainty.

The more “loose ends” in your life, the more you will feel stressed and desperate to “take action” to consolidate and organize the chaos that’s found its way into your life since the injury or accident. Talk to a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm to understand how you can leverage the law and other resources to solve the nagging crises that have been keeping you up at night and stressing your pocket book.

More Web Resources:

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

Importance of quantifying your goals

The fight to qualify for, collect, and utilize North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits to pay for your post accident/injury expenses can be dreary, annoying, drawn out, and full of ups and downs.

This holds true even if you have a high-caliber North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm on your side, fighting to protect your rights. But what if, after your case seems resolved, you still don’t have enough money – even after the workers’ comp is incorporated into your budget – to pay for the bare necessities? What options do you have?

Obviously, you might want to talk to your law firm about getting more benefits, extending your existing benefits, or searching for other social service programs to fill the gaps. But you also should consider other strategies and tactics to either lower your expenses or pump in new income in a way that doesn’t violate the terms of your North Carolina workers’ compensation arrangement.

You can find gazillions of articles online about how to penny pinch, coupon clip, and otherwise tighten the belt on your home budget. So we won’t ramble on about that.

But you might be surprised by the different ways you can reboot your productivity by tapping into latent talents, skills, and passions. For instance, say you spent 22 years working a difficult welding job outside of Raleigh. One day, a piece of equipment malfunctioned and gave you severe burns, lacerations, and few broken bones. In short, now you can’t – or you won’t – go back to your old welding job. So now what?

Well, let’s think. Maybe you’ve always had a passion for NASCAR. You’ve been a huge NASCAR fan, you know all the great drivers’ names and stats, you obsess over events, take your family hundreds of miles to see the big races, etcetera. If so, you might explore how to turn that passion – and your deep knowledge of the sport – into a money-making venture that could yield a second or third income stream for your family.

Of course, if you do enter into a business venture, be sure that it’s allowed by your workers’ comp arrangement. Otherwise, you can get into trouble for workers’ comp fraud – and that can lead to a revocation of benefits and other punishments, like jail time.

But assuming you do this correctly, you might be surprised at how many of your secret passions, hobbies, and skills you can leverage to rebuild not just your sense of excitement and joy about the world, but also your financial possibilities. We will talk more about the nuts and bolts of how to do this in our next workers’ comp post…

More Web Resources:

Tighten Your Budget

Rediscover Your Passions

As a North Carolina workers’ compensation beneficiary (or someone who wants to become a beneficiary), you’re likely in a lot of pain right now.

Not only are you suffering from – hopefully recovering from – a serious workplace injury or illness, but you also face imminent financial challenges. Since so much bad news has come your way recently, you might be focused on what you lack in your life as opposed to what you can gain from this experience. This blog post will attempt to begin the process of turning around your perspective on the whole situation – to see that your whole North Carolina workers’ compensation situation not just as a stop gap for pain, but as an opportunity for change.

For instance, your injury or illness might mean that you cannot go back to the work you used to do and love. Now, you might be able to recover with the right therapy, medical help, and other resources, and return to your old job. But you might alternatively think about novel ways to utilize your knowledge, skills, and passions to change your career path within your industry or change industries altogether.

For instance, if you were hurt in a welding accident, you might not be able to go back to doing what you did before. But you might start your own welding company – or work in the front office of someone else’s welding company – earning more money, working fewer hours, and utilizing your experience in the field to help up-and-comers.

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

Alternatively, you can go on a journey of self exploration, rediscover old skills, tools, and passions you used to have, and exploit those to earn money. In other words, what might have been a disability in one industry — such as your loss of your ability to bend your knees — might be completely irrelevant in another industry or in another part of your current industry.

Of course, identifying these opportunities is often easier in theory than it is in practice, especially if you are in a down mood or if you have never gone through career retraining.

But hopefully, just by recognizing that these options may be possible for you – as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining – you might feel more hopeful.

There is no need to go through this struggle on your own. A North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you deal with the practical issues, nuts and bolts logistics, and legal questions to keep you focused on healing, regenerating your career, rebuilding your finances, and restoring hope and confidence.

More Web Resources:

Universe is Abundant?

Reboot Your Career

On August 26, 48-year-old Nicki Lee Buxmann of Sacramento was sentenced to jail for federal workers’ comp fraud. Our North Carolina workers’ compensation analysts react…

According to an article in the Sacramento Bee, Buxmann allegedly suffered injuries while working the United States Postal Service and obtained workers’ comp benefits from the Department of Labor.

While she collected those benefits, Buxmann owned and operated the TNT Takeover/MMA Boxing gym in Roseville, California. This was in violation of her sworn statements that she was not working and earning no income. When news of Buxmann’s alleged workers’ comp violations reached federal overseers, the inspector general of the USPS launched an investigation. According to the Sacramento Bee, “An undercover agent caught Buxmann teaching defensive tactics techniques, replacing light bulbs, cleaning windows, and sweeping exercise mats.” U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr., sentenced her to five months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and restitution of nearly $105,000.

When someone like Buxmann defrauds the North Carolina workers’ compensation system, everyone in the system loses. Workers’ comp works only when all the players involved – including government entities, insurers, employers, and employees – trust that the system is fair and equitable. Plus, when $105,000 “disappears” from workers’ comp coffers, that money must be compensated for. Typically, the money lost through fraud is replenished by increased taxes, higher insurance premiums, and so on.

Of course, individuals who are hurt often want to get back to work quickly. The question is: Will taking another form of income replacement violate the terms of your workers’ comp? There is no way to answer that in the abstract. That’s why it’s so important to get good legal advice. A North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm will help you understand all you can (and cannot) do to supplement your income, get back to work quickly, and generally augment your career, your injury/illness notwithstanding.

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Nicki Lee Buxmann fraud

North Carolina – and the rest of the United States – is caught in a vicious heat wave that has some North Carolina workers’ compensation analysts concerned. During extreme weather, vulnerable workers – such as the elderly or those with physically demanding industrial jobs – can be subject to fainting spells, dehydration, delirium, and general fatigue. If you fail to monitor yourself, your coworkers, and your employees – the dog days of August can cause, or contribute to, a disaster or illness that can dog you long after the dog days have had their last bark.

Here are some examples of how hot weather can precipitate accident/injuries.

Example Number One: House Painters Use Red

A house painter in Greensboro forgets to pack his typical iced drinks and sodas. Instead of going back to get them, he figures, why not log a few hours first? So he climbs a ladder and begins painting. He gets so wrapped up in his work that he doesn’t feel that he is overheating in the hot sun. Sweat drips onto his ladder, creating a slippery surface. He misses a rung, slips, and falls 15 feet into the bushes below, where he breaks his leg, severs a tendon, and gets scratched up. Thanks to the dog days, he is forced to miss 15 weeks of work.

Example Number Two: Too Hot in the Office

An elderly woman who works as a receptionist at a small business just outside the Research Triangle feels faint. Her boss had failed to fix the air-conditioning, so she brought in a small fan. But today, the fan is not enough. While typing a report, she passes out from the heat and has to be hospitalized due to dehydration.

Example Number Three: Air Conditioner Repair Disaster

After the elderly worker’s unfortunate dehydration incident, her boss decides that it is time to fix the air conditioner. She goes out back and tries to do it herself, but, since she lacks the training and tools to do the job right, the air conditioner condenser explodes. The wind is knocked out of her, and she receives lacerations, sending her, too, to the hospital with injuries.

Moral: The dog days present a surprising number of risks for workers. If you, or someone you know, has recently been hurt or made ill during the dog days (or at any other time), a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you understand how to get compensation, how to protect your rights, and how to deal with insurance companies.

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Dog Days of August in Carolina

heat waves and elderly

Perhaps you’ve received North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits after a long, hard fight. Or you may be just beginning the process, researching your options, interviewing attorneys at various North Carolina workers’ compensation law firms to figure out who can help you deal with a bad faith insurance company or a boss who refuses to understand your predicament. In any case, you face a long-term challenge with your recovery – one that many people fail to recognize even exists. The challenge is this: When you subsist on a fixed income, you must “make room” in your budget for surprising, variable costs.

Fixed cost is something that you pay every month at a regular interval. For instance, your rent, your insurance premium, the parking permit for your condominium complex, etc. Variable costs change over the time. You can’t predict them exactly. For instance, your grocery bill varies from month to month, as well the amount you spend on gifts or on fun accessories, like electronics or gadgets for dad.

We are all told – we all know – that we need to budget for variable expenses carefully – to make sure that we have enough money to deal with these strange costs.

But if you apply the thinking of Nassim Taleb, author of the Black Swan, you will quickly recognize that small allotments for variable expenses may not be sufficient.

To put that in plain language: If you are on workers’ comp, and you and your spouse are only bringing in a certain amount of money a month, and you’ve “conservatively” budgeted to spend Y amount of money (where Y is less than X), then you may not be as safe as the math says you will be.

Taleb’s big insight is that shocking, unexpected events – so called “Black Swan” events – can radically throw off your financial plans.

In other words, even if you’ve budgeted carefully to save Z amount of dollars every month (where Z=X-Y), and you’ve been careful and accounted for all the variable costs we discussed above, this kind of linear, rational thinking may not save you from big “Black Swan” events. For instance, say you or your spouse develops a catastrophic medical condition or gets into an accident. Or say you have a change of heart one day and realize that your apartment is too small, and that you must, must, must move to a bigger place or your family is going to go completely insane. You take on these extra expenses that completely wreck your budget.

There is no quick and easy answer to defend against “Black Swan” events from messing up your budget. But even just knowing that they exist is a huge help in your planning. This will give you insight into the almost irreducible complexity and uncertainty of planning in the real world.

To make progress, you need different ways of thinking about planning effectively, and you want to connect with the resources that can help you solve your problems as they occur – because they will occur whether you expect them to or not. For instance, a reputable North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you navigate surprising and perhaps even shocking obstacles that might get thrown in your path – such as a bad faith insurance company or an employer/boss who, out of the blue, denies that your workplace accident/injury ever took place.

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Budgeting right

Black Swan

You may be in a hard fight right now to win North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits to pay for medical and surgical bills, therapies and medications, and your family’s day-do-day expenses. The fight could be consuming a significant portion of your life, particularly if your employer has refused to cooperate or if your insurance company is giving you a hard time.

But your battle goes well beyond the struggle for North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits. It grades into struggle to rebuild your life after an accident or injury. And that means taking responsibility for your current reality, setting up a strategic course for a better direction for you and your family, and finding helpful resources.

Turning to adept resources, like an experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm, is a good start. There is so much about workers’ comp law that you likely don’t know. Would be beneficiaries often make critical strategic mistakes that reduce their chances for collecting fair and just payments.

However, the battle is internal as well as external. Your struggle is not simply to collect the maximum amount of money. It’s to rebuild your life – ideally, rebuild it better than it was before the accident or illness. To that end, you will need to face down a key boogeyman: complacency. Human beings are creatures of habit. When we get into a groove – or regular routine – that routine becomes comfortable because our brains’ neuro pathways are strengthened by following that routine. In other words, you don’t have to spend time thinking about how to brush your teeth everyday because that pattern or behavior is now been hardwired into your neuropsychiatry. Likewise, when you are on benefits, the experience may seem novel and surprisingly exciting at first, but over time, as more and more benefits checks comes, you will grow somewhat accustomed to receiving your checks and – if you are not careful – you will become dependent on them.

Of course you should fight for all the money that you are owed. However, it’s never healthy to become too dependent on outside forces, particularly when the rules that govern those forces are outside of your control. As we have seen with the recent reforms to the NC workers’ comp laws, even “tried and true” realities about the system can be dismantled and reformed in the blink of any eye, and it’s out of control of any one beneficiary or even the best NC workers’ comp lawyer.

The challenge then is to protect yourself from this kind of complacency. One powerful strategic weapon to battle complacency is creating plan for your life. Spend some time reflecting on your life’s purpose and your vision for a better future. Keeping your focus there – instead of on conserving what you have now or what you might lose – will motivate you and give you the power to find resources and tools that can help you.

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Resilence

Self-reliance

A workplace accident – such as an inhalation injury at a chemical/industrial plant or a chronic debilitating myofascial injury from typing too much at your white collar job – has compelled you to seek North Carolina workers’ compensation to pay for damages, lost past and future wages, rehabilitation, and myriad other bills. On this blog, we talk a lot about the logistics – the physical, external forces that influence your ability to collect North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits and maximize utility of those benefits. But we also need to cover the possible psychological traumas that can hurt injured workers. And one of those is fixating on the accident or incident that led to your injury/illness.

You’ve likely relived the painful memory dozens if not hundreds of times, and the memory has an enormously powerful emotional charge associated with it. Perhaps you fell off a ladder while painting a condominium, for instance. Now, at night, you dream about climbing a ladder, or maybe something metaphorically similar, like a mountain, and then losing your grip and falling. Maybe you were in a car accident while delivering goods for your employer, and the tape that accident regularly replace in your mind every time you get behind the wheel.

First of all, acknowledging that trauma exist is a huge part of the battle. You can’t fight what you can’t see or acknowledge. Second of all, recognize that time often heals psychological wounds like this – but not always, and that’s an important caveat. Third, a battery of therapies might be useful for dealing with it, including psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, meditation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and so forth. Educate yourself and connect with a therapist you can trust to help you rebuild your psychological immune system.

Lastly, psychological trauma can be worsened, or even directly caused by, instability and uncertainty in your life. To that end, take mind your p’s and q’s by connecting with an experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

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Reliving the accident

myofasical trauma

The dog days of August are upon us, and, according to an analysis of Travelers Insurance Claims Data, North Carolina workers’ compensation claims at small businesses are peaking.

According to a blog post at InsuranceNewsNet.com, travelers found that, from June through September, “workers’ comp claims peak – approximately one-third of all injuries involve workers under 30 years old.” Common claims include “lower back strains and other back-related injuries and injuries from slips, trips and falls.”

This is the 100-year anniversary of the very first workers’ comp insurance policy ever written, according to Travelers, and maybe now is an appropriate time to reflect on how far the entitlement system has come, as well as on the challenges that the North Carolina workers’ compensation community faces.

One way forward is to zero-in on trends like the ones highlighted in the Travelers report. For instance, if we know that small businesses face a spike in claims during the hot summer months, then maybe we can figure out precisely what is going on during those summer months that makes workers vulnerable.

Are the workers getting too hot and thus endangering themselves due to heat stroke, delirium, or dehydration? If so, that might suggest that a policy for helping workers cool off could make a big difference. Or maybe it’s the type of jobs being done during the summer months. Construction, engineering, remodeling, and so forth might spike during the summer months. Thus, the problem may simply be related to the type of work being done as opposed to heat-specific problems causing degradation of worker performance.

This may seem like an insignificant point.

But we need this kind of analytical thinking to make progress with workers’ compensation reform. What are the root causes of waste in the system? What are the root causes of worker injuries and illnesses? The answers may not be obvious. We may not be able to glean them easily from reports, statistical analyses, or even from meta analyses of claims data.

Good science in any field is notoriously hard to conduct. And well-intentioned policies based on bad science can redound to horrific effect. For instance, if we look at the Travelers data and make the assumption that heat was the problem [instead of the proliferation of dangerous jobs (e.g. construction jobs)], then our policy solutions would not address the problem. We might tell workers to take more breaks, drink more fluids, and stay in air-conditioning more. But we would not address the primary cause (too many dangerous jobs being done), and thus wouldn’t make a dent in the numbers.

Philosophizing aside, if you or someone you care about has a specific, serious question regarding your benefits, a fight with an insurance company, or a battle with an employer, a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you figure what to do, how to do it, and when to do it.

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“approximately one-third of all injuries involve workers under 30 years old.”

Correlation vs. Causation

On August 8, the Illinois workers’ compensation system metabolized a minor reform. The changes to IL law come on the heels of the North Carolina workers’ compensation system’s major transformation, which this blog reported about at length earlier in the summer.

According to an InsuranceJournal.com article, the new IL law was sparked by a single horrific news story.

If you remember a few months ago, we talked about the case of former Illinois State Trooper Matt Mitchell, who sped at more than 100 miles per hour – while talking on a cell phone, no less! – soared through a median strip, hit another car, and killed two teenage girls. Mitchell was charged with reckless homicide, but he got off with just 30 months of probation thanks to a deal with prosecutors.

That alone galled some Illinois residents. But Mitchell then claimed workers’ comp for his injuries. The arbitrator who later denied Mitchell’s claim concluded that he “took substantial and unjustifiable risk resulting in a gross deviation in the standard of care of his duty as an Illinois State Trooper.” The arbitrator also highlighted the fact that Mitchell was driving at a high speed and might have been writing emails on his car computer as well as taking personal phone calls right before the accident happened.

So the reformation to Illinois workers’ comp law is narrow and is essentially just meant to stop cases like Mitchell’s from ever again even being considered. Here is how InsuranceJournal.com summarized the measure: “[the measure] would prevent any state employer hurt at work from being eligible for workers’ compensation if the injury happened during a forcible felony, an aggravated DUI, or reckless homicide, and if any of those crimes killed or injured another person.”

Governor Pat Quinn emphasized that the law would ensure that “workers’ compensation benefits go only to those who deserve them.”

The changes to Illinois system are essentially closing a loophole, whereas the changes to the North Carolina workers’ compensation system are more systemic and designed to control costs and help businesses (and, to a lesser extent, injured workers) get a fair deal.

Securing benefits is complicated enough. If you are hurt or sick, you don’t have time to track all of the North Carolina legislature’s activities. Fortunately, you don’t have to pay attention to the minutia. By turning to a trusted, compassionate, aggressive North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm, you can make smarter decisions, protect your rights, and ensure that you get the benefits you and your family need.

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former Illinois State Trooper Matt Mitchell – quest for comp

No Workers’ Comp Benefits For People Convicted Of Crime

On Monday, a woman named Michelle McKee was sentenced to 2 years in prison for defrauding the Colorado workers’ comp system out of $25,000. North Carolina workers’ compensation experts and analysts are closely following the story, as it may have relevance to in-state cases. According to a local news report, McKee had been working as a housekeeper at a hotel, when she hurt her ankle. Although she claimed the injury was work related, an insurance investigation found that McKee had been bragging to friends about cheating the workers’ comp system. She also allegedly admitted to hurting herself not while at work but while out partying (she twisted her ankle after stepping off a curb). The state’s senior assistant Attorney General convinced the court that Ms. McKee had made false statements to collect money – a felony charge. In addition to her 2-year jail sentence, Ms. McKee now faces $25,000 in forced restitution to her old employer, Pinnacol Assurance.

As this blog has often discussed, North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud matters create tensions throughout the system and ultimately harm all major players involved: insurance companies, employers, legislators, and genuinely injured employees. It’s this latter category that is most vulnerable – subsequent to fraud cases like this one, legitimately hurt workers will likely have a harder time in Colorado collecting benefits without hassle. When insurance companies and employers grow suspicious of claimants, they tend to require higher burdens of proof and conduct longer investigations as to the veracity of claims.

If you’ve been the victim of undue harassment, frustration, or non-compliance by your employer or your employer’s insurance company, it may behoove you to seek out the counsel of a North Carolina workers’ compensation attorney to figure out how to resolve your situation adequately, get the benefits you want, and get these issues off your mind so you can focus on recovering and fixing your financial circumstances.

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Michelle McKee

Colorado workers’ comp system

Many North Carolina workers’ compensation beneficiaries (or people who want workers’ comp money) labor under a variety of painful and generally destructive delusions. Let’s dig into some of those, rip them apart, and talk about how to approach your struggles more productively.

Delusion #1. Believing that your North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits will “fix” everything.

Obviously, maximizing your compensation gives you more leverage and resources. And if you’re in pain, unable to work, and saddled with serious bills and costs to take care of your family, you want to open up your options. But the resources you have are actually in some ways less important than the resourcefulness you demonstrate.

Learning better problem-solving costs nothing but can redound to a hugely positive effect. In other words, regardless of whether you collect a lot of money or less than you thought, you can leverage that money to better effect if you think more clearly about what you want to achieve with that money. (If that makes sense.)

Delusion #2. The best you can hope for is to “make it back” to where you were before you got hurt or injured.

This delusion is an absolute killer because it de-motivates victims and makes them feel disempowered and unresourceful. In fact, many famous business leaders emerged from bankruptcy to become tycoons. So, too, can many hurt and “down and out” workers emerge to become better, healthier, wealthier, and happier than they were before they got injured. It’s all a matter of frame of reference. If yours is tilted towards the negative, change it, ASAP.

Delusion #3. You injury/illness will permanently make you “less happy.”

If you’ve recently been hurt or made sick at work, you may feel like your life has changed dramatically, for the worse. And it might have, objectively speaking. But in terms of your happiness, don’t jump to conclusions. As researcher Daniel Gilbert notes in his book, Stumbling on Happiness, our levels of happiness do not necessarily correspond with objective circumstances. You can be on top of the world – a multibillionaire – and miserable. Likewise, you can be about to be decapitated at a guillotine and feel wonderful about your life.

The faster you retain good help from a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm, and the sooner you do so, the easier it will be to maximize your recovery and to feel better and secure in your path to healing.

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Stumbling on Happiness

Life gets better and better…

If you’re a worker who needs North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits to pay for a painful carpal tunnel surgery, injury rehab, or even extensive and expensive surgical bills, you’re probably only looking one or two steps down the road.

You’re probably thinking along the lines of…

• How can I maximize my benefits?
• How can I prevent my employer from treating me unfairly?
• How can I compel an insurance company to “play fair?”
• How can I better understand my obligations under North Carolina law? Etc

These are all crucial questions to ask – and obviously a qualified North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you figure them out. But deeper issues might be at play. And deeper questions may need to be asked, if you really want to recover completely from your injury or illness, get back into the workforce, and put the painful incident or accident behind you for good.

Let’s say you suffered a terrible typing injury at work. Maybe you worked as a receptionist for some bank located in the Research Triangle in Raleigh, for example. You might casually assume that the cause of your stress was all of the typing you did. And you might be right – but perhaps only partially. It might be that there are some other factors – such as dietary influences (too much sugar, vitamin deficiency of some kind, etc), postural stressors or back alignment issues, etc.

And if you fail to address those fundamental problems, you will never recover full function. And even if you do recover some function and return to work, you will likely continue to stress and hurt yourself — even if you take steps towards reducing the amount of typing you do. In other words, if the primary stimulators of pain and illness remain entrenched, then your solutions won’t work well, or they won’t work for long.

So how do you tap into these bigger and deeper solutions? First off, expand your thinking. Get multiple opinions about your injury and accident – and look at the problem from many different angles. Talk to people who have had similar problems. And experiment – obviously under the direction of your doctor – with various processes and methods and tools to treat your issues and prevent them from coming back.

Educated patients – educated workers’ comp clients – tend to recover faster and easier, even when the odds are stacked against them.

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too much sugar?

educated patients do better

A Nevada Supreme Court ruling on July 15th has rippled across the nation and grabbed the attention of analysts and pundits in the North Carolina workers’ compensation community. The NV Supreme Court ruled that a North Las Vegas correctional officer is not entitled to collect workers’ comp benefits. It’s a relatively “run of the mill” story…at least on the surface.

First, the details.

Jacqueline Phillips hurt herself in 2005 – ostensibly because she lifted heavy boxes at her job. Her claim was denied.

In September 2007, Phillips again filed for workers’ comp, this time because she claimed that she hurt herself pulling an inmate from a squad car into a holding cell. A quote from the Las Vegas Sun article describes what happened to her: “On September 22, 2007, she said she was injured on the job while transferring the inmate. She initially told her doctor this was an aggravation of the injury suffered in 2005. She told a second physician her symptoms began on September 30, or eight days after the reported incident. The city denied her claim. She was then treated by a third doctor whom she told her symptoms began on September 22.”

The court ruled that the doctors who treated Phillips did not link the injury with the event that happened on September 22. In other words, despite Phillips’ word that she had been hurt, neither the doctors nor the courts believed her – or least believed her to the point that they allowed her to start collecting benefits.

So this case might not have been particularly noteworthy, and it’s not like the mainstream media is engaging in a feeding frenzy about it. It’s no Casey Anthony. But it does hold important lessons for potential North Carolina workers’ compensation claimants. Specifically, it suggests that your word alone may not be enough.

In other words, YOU may believe that you got hurt on the job. But it takes more than subjective opinion to win a benefits case. Unfortunately, many claimants make errors of judgment, give inaccurate statements, and wait too long to get help from legal professionals. As a result of flailing and delaying, they may further injure their chances of being able to win a claim.

An experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you identify: A, whether or not you have a case against an insurer, employer, or other institution and B, help you figure out a “best path,” strategically speaking, to get the compensation in the shortest, easiest way.

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Nevada Supreme Court ruling on Phillips

Casey Anthony case

Congress’ investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), wants to clamp down on North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud (and workers’ comp fraud throughout the country). According to the official GAO website, the government is seeking information about beneficiaries secretly working second jobs, overstating claims, or collecting money owed to a deceased worker.

In fiscal year 2009, the U.S. Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs paid more than a quarter of a million workers over $4.1 billion (disbursed through four programs) for workplace injuries and illnesses. Many of these workers resided in North Carolina. (To be more specific, only $2.73 billion was spent on federal workers or their survivors, per the GAO’s report.)

It’s nice to see the government trying to clamp down on North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud, since systemic abuse doesn’t just hurt “faceless” corporate entities and government agencies with big pockets. Fraud “pays forward” throughout the system and creates mistrust, frustration, gridlock, friction, and bureaucracy.

When insurers and employers become more suspicious of beneficiaries’ intentions and actions, they throw up more roadblocks to prevent getting scammed. Inevitably, legitimate claims get held up in the dragnet. What’s the most appropriate response to this kind of abuse? Should scam artists, schemers, and those who aid and abet workers’ comp fraud be punished harshly?

Perhaps a better solution would be to disincentivize fraud through some non-punitive way. A broad and deep analysis of typical workers’ comp fraud crimes, for instance, might reveal certain patterns of behavior and typical perpetrator motivations. Policy analysts could then work towards solving would-be perpetrators’ problems in advance to prevent them from turning to the dark side and seeking to exploit vulnerabilities in the system.

If you or someone you care about needs help with a benefits issue, a reliable, honest, and aggressive North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you move forward.

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Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Fraud “pays forward” throughout the system

A new study released by the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) has worried many in the North Carolina workers’ compensation community. The report, Interstate Variations in Use of Narcotics, suggests that injured workers often abuse and/or misuse narcotics prescribed to treat workplace injuries. According to a WCRI press release, “In certain states…patients who begin treatment with narcotics are more likely to end up using narcotics on a longer-term bases – California, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas.” Louisiana was the worst offender – with a rate of 1 out of 6 injured workers who possibly misuse/abuse narcotics. According to the WCRI, “In a typical state, the figure is 1 out of 20.”

So let’s dig a little deeper here. Why would North Carolina workers’ compensation beneficiaries who need medication for pain fail to follow a doctor’s orders and either take more narcotics than necessary or otherwise abuse prescriptions?

This may seem like a silly and somewhat obvious question to ask. But it’s an important one. Because we need to understand the root causes if we want to figure out how to tackle the problem. A typical answer might be something in effect of “narcotics are addictive.” Or “when everything else is going wrong in your life, narcotics can help make the pain go away.”

But these answers are in many ways unsatisfying.

They suggest that hurt workers are helpless and foolish. They suggest that they don’t understand the implications of abusing or misusing narcotics. These thoughts are insulting to hurt workers. Could there be another explanation that’s somewhat more oblique but also more satisfying. According to a Harvard University psychiatrist, Dr. Lance Dodes, addictions to medications may have psychological origin – as opposed to physiological origin. Dr. Dodes points out that soldiers who fought in Vietnam became addicted to opiates while overseas – physically addicted, that is. They kicked their addictions easily after being removed from the battlefront. This suggests that psychology, as opposed to physiology, should be implicated in at least a certain kind of addiction.

Dr. Dodes proposes that addiction is in essence an empowerment response – when a hurt worker feels frustrated, angry, overwhelmed, or even just irritable about his/her situation, he/she wants to reassert control. Using or abusing medication helps the hurt worker regain a sense of control.

Dr. Dodes’ theory is deep and interesting – it runs counter to the grain of the conventional wisdom about addiction. But it’s an interesting philosophy, and if you or someone you care about has been hurt at work, and you need the help of a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm to figure out what to do, it might also behoove you to examine Dr. Dodes’ thinking.

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Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI)

Dodes’ research

The political fracas that accompanied the recent debate (and subsequent passage) of North Carolina workers’ compensation reform drowned out a few curious and intriguing developments. Thanks to the reform – just penned into law by Governor Perdue – and a piece of legislation called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), states like NC (and the nation as a whole) are reassessing their medical billing systems.

North Carolina, for one, adopted new eBilling rules. The state joins Illinois, California, Minnesota, and Texas as part of a select, small group of states that has accepted the new “e-reality” of medical e-billing and moved away from traditional paper bureaucracy.

So what does this all mean? Will eBilling, in and of itself, radically alter the North Carolina workers’ compensation system?

According to many experts, eBilling is inevitable. The internet is altering every facet of our lives. And more and more people feel more and more comfortable paying bills online and even banking at institutions like ING Direct.

But will eBilling eliminate redundant and needless bureaucracy and thus streamline and smooth out hiccups in the system? One would like to think so. If you Google around, you can find countless examples of how eBilling solutions have improved trade, souped up customer service, and even made whole industries workflow processes work better.

On the other hand, eBilling does carry risk. Security, technology, and recordkeeping issues abound. One can easily concoct dozens of “nightmare” scenarios, in which workers’ comp beneficiaries get sucked into a vortex of bureaucracy – or even defrauded out of money or a social security number – due to an eBilling error, technological glitch, or hacking scandal.

Nevertheless, the time has passed for what-iffing. The new eBilling paradigm is upon us.

To make sense of your rights, opportunities, and “best practices,” avoid doing all of the legwork yourself, and turn to a trusted and experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm to help you develop a strategy for the way forward.

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Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)

medical e-billing

On June 25, North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue signed an historic North Carolina workers’ compensation reform into law…and simultaneously vetoed a Republican proposed cap on medical malpractice awards.

Governor Perdue, a Democrat, called the North Carolina workers’ compensation reforms fair and balanced – she argued that the changes both protected businesses and preserved the rights of injured and sick workers. But she was far less effusive about the proposed cap on punitive damages to be awarded in medical malpractice cases. Republicans wanted the limit to be capped at $500,000. Governor Perdue responded in a written statement: “I commend the legislature for addressing this important issue [medical malpractice reform] but, in its current form, the bill is unbalanced… I urge our legislators to modify the bill when the General Assembly returns in July to protect those who are catastrophically injured.”

The North Carolina Senate passed the “medmal cap” bill by an enormous margin, but the House only passed it by a narrow, non-veto-proof margin of 62 to 44. Advocates of the cap were livid. They did not mince the words. A Republican from Rockingham, Phil Berger, the NC Senate’s leader, said Perdue’s actions dealt “a severe blow to the state’s medical community and every citizen struggling to cope with skyrocketing cost of health care.”

Over 30 states currently have some cap on medical liability damages. It’s pretty clear from interest group statements that this battle over a potential cap is far from over.

On the other hand, the changes in the workers’ comp laws have created a not insignificant amount of confusion and agita among claimants and their families. If you or someone you care about has questions about how the reforms might affect you – or needs help with a benefits question – talk to a qualified North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm about your rights and possible remedies.

Whether you’ve been out on North Carolina Workers’ Compensation for years, and you are beginning to think about how and when to return to your old job (or train for a new one); or you just got hurt last week, and you’re thinking about what will become of you now that you’re saddled on the sidelines for months, odds are you have swirling emotions. You might feel scared, excited, overwhelmed, anxious, relieved, overjoyed, and terrified – and these emotions may intermingle, coming and going as you anticipate that day when you finally return to the job.

This kind of composite, pastiche of emotions among North Carolina Workers’ Compensation claimants is actually quite common. And the reasons aren’t that surprising. First of all, chances are one of the last memories you have of work involve the injury or illness that led you to lead the job. Maybe you slipped and fell on a construction site and tore a ligament in your knee. Maybe you spent one afternoon typing a memo and developed a pinched nerve that was later diagnosed to be severe thoracic outlet syndrome. Or maybe you got into an accident while driving a company delivery van. In any case, that last dramatic memory is likely still relatively fresh in your mind’s eye.

Also, making the transition back to your old job means in some ways reflecting on everything that’s happened to you since you’ve left work. Much like holidays like New Year’s Eve in a sense force you to reflect on your life – where you’ve been, how far you’ve come, your shortfalls – so too does the return to work compel you to reassess your life milestones.

Finally, in the event that there has been any bad blood or friction with your employer or with your company over your claim, you might worry about whether there will be drama at work – and, if so, how you should respond. You’ll also spend a lot of time thinking about the relationships that you have or you did have with the people at work and how those relationships have evolved and will evolve once you return. Finally, you will likely spend some time thinking about the fear of re-injury. Will going back to work lead again to a problem? If so, how will you know? What should you do if you see warning signs or develop a subconscious fear that something might be going wrong?

To prepare best for the return, talk to an experienced North Carolina Workers’ Compensation law firm, so you will understand your rights and responsibilities and make the transition back as seamless, stress-free and simple as possible.

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Overcoming fear

Going back to work after a long absence

The Friday before last, a Wake Forest man, Carl Delmas Fuller was charged in a North Carolina workers’ compensation scam. Fuller was arrested in Florida after the Florida Department of Financial Services Division of Insurance Fraud investigated fishy business practices and concluded that Fuller had scammed National Employment Services (NES) out of a whopping $2.7 million in premiums. NES slowly awakened to the duplicity. The company had believed that had bought insurance from an North Carolinian agent named David Walters who had been serving them through a company called Southeast Services Incorporated. But the company investigation realized that the certificates “Walters” provided were useless, that “Walters” in fact did not exist, and that there was no such entity as “Southeast Services Incorporated.” And indeed, all the checks sent to Southeast Services Inc. wound up in a Myrtle Beach mail box owned by Carl Delmas Fuller.

Both the FBI and the United States Attorneys’ Offices assisted the Florida Department of Financial Services in the investigation to North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud. Fuller faces two decades behind bars if he is convicted of all charges.

As this blog has discussed many times, when individuals like Fuller siphon money out of the system and destroy trust among the various parties (insurers, employers, employees, etc.) everyone suffers in an indirect way. At first blush, 20 years behind bars for a white color crime like fraud might seem “over the top” especially when you consider that rapists, murderers, and violent gang leaders often get a fraction of that jail sentence. The consequences of this kind of fraud can be far reaching and devastating. When the money leaves the system like this, beneficiaries who desperately need funds to pay for medical care, rehabilitation, emergency surgeries, etc. may not have access to the funds or may be unfairly challenged by insurance companies who’ve been “once bitten twice shy” when it comes to dealing with the workers’ comp system.

The big moral and philosophical lessons of the story aside, however, if you or someone you care about is struggling with an issue such as a bad faith insurer, an uncaring boss who won’t listen to your concerns, or simply a lot of red tape regarding your benefits, a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can provide tremendous assistance.

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Carl Fuller

Florida Department of Financial Services

A workers’ comp case way out in Aurora, Colorado has caught the attention of the North Carolina workers’ compensation community because of the heart breaking realities at the center of it all.

Martin Lobatos and his wife Belen Lobatos were indicted on 18-counts last Friday, after Colorado investigators alleged that the couple collected $140,000 worth of workers’ comp claims from Pinnacol Assurance. Lobatos worked as a roofer until September 8, 2008, when he sustained a terrible fall off of a ladder. He went back to work a month later but started complaining of ongoing vertigo and dizziness from his accident. Six months later, in April 2009, Lobatos’ doctors maintained that he had fully recovered.

Lobatos was fired and later collected a $20,000 settlement from Pinnacol Assurance. In the fall of 2009, however, Lobatos began experiencing more symptoms, such as memory loss, having trouble recognizing his children, dizziness, and a host of other frustrating problems. His doctors agreed. In March 2010, Lobatos claimed to be “fully catatonic.” And he allegedly acted catatonic in medical exams. But witnesses later saw him driving around, shopping, engaging in activities in a decidedly non-catatonic state. This evidence allegedly led to the investigation and ultimately to the allegations and 18 count indictment against Lobatos and his wife. If convicted of the crime, the Lobatoses could face fines of $750,000 each and a dozen years in prison.

Obviously, North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud (and such fraud elsewhere in the country) is an enormous problem, and perpetrators should be held to account. But is it really fair to slap these people with $1.5 million in fines and over 10 years in prison? Many homicide cases don’t get punished that severely. Again, this is not to say fraud shouldn’t be punished appropriately. But the punishment must fit the crime, and the context of the crime should also deeply inform the legal remedies.

What’s frustrating here is that many injuries that ultimately send people to seek the services of a North Carolina workers’ compensation firm don’t manifest immediately after an accident. A fall off of a ladder, for instance, may lead to a temporary concussion that seems to resolve after few weeks or months…only to give way to longer term, chronic, and confusing injuries months or even years after the fact.

Again, it’s impossible to weigh in on the Lobatos’ case without far more information. But victims of workplace accidents or illnesses should understand that they may go through a similar kind of rollercoaster – feeling bad after the accident, then feeling better again for a while, then feeling suddenly worse for no apparent reason. This is why it’s so important to contact professionals, like experienced law firms and good doctors, to build evidence, stay within the bounds of the law, and maximize your chances for getting the money and support you need to get back to work and support your family.

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Pinnacol Assurance

Martin Lobatos fraud

If you’ve been on North Carolina workers’ compensation for some time, odds are that you are itching to get back to work in some capacity, either by retraining, going back to your old job, or finding some other way to be productive with your time. Unfortunately, without good guidance, you may languish and recover for far longer than you intended – and the consequences can be frustrating not only for your ego but also for your budget. After all, typically you likely can make significantly more money actually working than you can basically staying home and collecting North Carolina workers’ compensation.

To that end, let’s discuss some strategies for how to speed up your recovery.

1. Educate yourself as a patient

Being a proactive patient doesn’t necessarily mean ignoring your doctor’s orders. But it does mean researching your condition, reading books about it, talking to other patients, engaging in good Q&As with your physician, and following up on rehab and home care.

2. Notice when something doesn’t right or when you are stuck on snag or an optical

One of the top reasons why people struggle with chronic injuries, work problems, or other stresses is that they fail to acknowledge the reality. If something bothers you – a nagging pain in your left knee, a sliver of doubt over your diagnosis or doctor’s prescription, for instance – write down your troubles. Keep a journal or a logbook about them. And work through your struggles by surfacing the fundamental problems, talking about them with people who know and support you, and looking for shortcuts around them. For instance, if your knee bothers you every time you shovel your driveway, find someone else to shovel your driveway for you and save yourself the pain.

3. Actively seek out help

No one person or institution – even the most qualified North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm – can help you blast through all of the obstacles that are holding you back from returning to work quickly, getting back on the game, and restoring your career path. But “going it alone” almost always makes a zero sense. One’s perspective is by definition narrow. You may simply be blind by either habit or denial to some fundamental truths which, if acknowledged, could help you shortcut your process to healing enormously. It takes courage to ask for advice and for help. And there are certainly untrustworthy sources out there who might judge you or give you bad advice. So you have to be careful about whom you trust and how you solicit help. But there is no substitute for an alternative fresh perspective when you are stuck with problem in work, life, or health.

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Educate yourself as a patient

Keeping a journal

Last Thursday, a North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Reform Bill – also known as HB709 – passed the state senate. The final vote was unanimous: 46 to 0. On June 1, as regular readers will recall, the NC House passed a similar initiative by a lopsided margin of 100 to 3. The North Carolina workers’ compensation reform is the first of its kind in 17 years. Although Republican lawmakers and business groups pushed the bill, the legislation ultimately morphed into more of a compromised reform. The AFL-CIO, Employers Coalition of North Carolina, Chamber of Commerce, and countless business, insurance and workers rights groups as well as trial lawyers all collaborated to create this. For instance, Governor Beverly Perdue, a Democrat, happily reported the legislation.

What the reform will do:

• Temporary total disability benefits will be capped at 500 weeks (approximately 9.5 years)
• Injured workers may be able to petition for extra temporary total disability benefits of another 425 weeks
• Partial disability benefits bump up from 300 weeks to 500 weeks
• Death benefits to family members of workers killed on the job will also bump up from 400 weeks to 500 weeks
• When workers reach a threshold known as “maximum medical improvement,” the definition of what will then constitute “suitable employment” will change. A businessinsurance.com article summarized this new definition nicely: “a job the employee is capable of performing while considering physical limitations, education, experienced and vocational skills.”

What will these reforms mean for you and your potential claim?

In the abstract, it’s impossible to say. An experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can annualize your situation and suggest a best path forward. Even if you feel like your case is pretty cut and dry, you may nevertheless benefit from talking with a repeatable law firm to ensure that you maximize your benefits and minimize your chances of running afoul of bureaucracy, red tape, or other problems.

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North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Reform Bill –

Employers Coalition of North Carolina

Whether you got hurt in a lifting accident and threw out your back at work; or you came down with fibromyalgia or chronic pain syndrome due to repetitive office work, you believe that you may need North Carolina Workers’ Compensation. Some claimants forge their own way through the system, but many often seek out experts, such as attorneys who specialize in helping applicants to cut through the red tape, compel unfair or faithless insurers to abide by their responsibilities, manage companies or bosses who won’t cooperate, and so forth.

Indeed, most North Carolina Workers’ Compensation claimants can benefit tremendously by speaking to an attorney – for free and at no obligation – simply to get a strategic overview of their opportunities (and potential pitfalls) as well as a list of resources.

But not every North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm is the same. Unfortunately, many firms do not give their clients the requisite customized, personal attention they need to make the most informed decisions about what to do next. Clients might wind up with less than optimal (occasionally lackluster) results in difficult cases – e.g. where an insurance company or employer directly challenges your claim or tries to negate it. Your choice of law firm can prove pivotal. Experienced, results-proven lawyers can compel recalcitrant parties to treat you fairly; whereas inexperienced, overwhelmed, or simply disorganized attorneys may be unable to give you the representation you need to prevail in difficult circumstances.

To protect your interest, hew to the following principles:

1. Interview your attorneys, and prepare for the discussion by listing out questions and concerns in advance.

2. Do due diligence– research law firms online, look at client testimonials, and do objective research re: the firm’s general reputation within the legal community.

3. Listen to your gut. Your intuition often picks up on subtle factors that your conscious mind overlooks. If you get a sense that a firm is right for you (or is not right), pay attention to that sense and use it to help you make your decision.

4. Avoid “analysis paralysis.” In almost any decision in life, “over-researching” can lead to time wasting without improving the quality of the choice. Set a time limit for whom to retain, and force yourself to make a decision by that timeline, so you can move forward with your case and get the help you need urgently.

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Beating “analysis paralysis”

Listen to your gut?

Last week, the North Carolina house passed significant North Carolina workers’ compensation reforms by a lopsided vote of 110 to 4. This marks the first overhaul of the state’s workers’ comp system in nearly two decades. The charge was led by Republican representative, Dale Folwell, a 52-year old legislator who gained renown after driving over 32,000 miles on his motorcycle in 2006 to raise money for organ donation awareness (Folwell’s son was killed in 1999 by a motorist).

According to The Charlotte Observer, the massive changes to North Carolina workers’ compensation law will now go to the Senate for approval. The house passage ended months of marathon negotiations and years of controversy. Here are some of the big takeaways, summarized by the Charlotte Observer:

• “Caps payment for most disabled workers of 500 weeks, or 9.5 years, bringing North Carolina in line with neighboring states. Now there is no cap. The change would not affect workers currently on worker’s comp.
• Extends temporary partial disability payments from 300 to 500 weeks.
• Increases survivors’ death benefits from 400 to 500 weeks and burial expenses from $3,500 to $10,000.”

Folwell was at the epicenter of many passionate debates over the proposed legislation. According to the Observer, “one meeting lasted almost 13 hours.” Although business interest groups and Republican lawmakers drove the push for reform, Democrats, labor unions, and workers rights advocates claimed victories. As a Democrat from Durham, Representative Paul Leubke, commented “[workers advocates] feel it’s the best bill that could be developed in the context of this general assembly… it’s not as balanced as some might have represented.”

Governor Beverly Perdue lauded lawmakers for coming to the consensus: “working together, we seem to have accomplished that goal [of creating a long lasting fix to the system].”

Now that all the Sturm und Drang has passed (hopefully), workers, employers, business groups, insurance companies, trial lawyers, and other interested parties will get to sit back and watch to see how the changes to NC’s workers’ comp laws actually unfold. Will they save money? Will workers’ rights be unfairly infringed upon? Will the architects of this project objectively measure the results and change course if need be based on the data?

There are so many question marks at this point; it’s difficult to digest all the implications.

If you or a family member is receiving benefits or is seeking benefits, a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you unpack your options and develop a strategy that fits the context of this momentous and tumultuous time in the world of the state’s workers’ comp laws.

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NC house sets up final vote on workers’ comp bill

Representative Paul Leubke

The New York Times and other media outlets – including niche North Carolina workers’ compensation blogs! – have spent months reporting about a crazy series of claims out of the Golden State. According to California Labor Code Section 3600.5(b), employees who are temporarily assigned to the work in CT can make claims for long-term injuries.

Section 3600 may not seem like an overly fascinating piece of law, but injured former NFL players (and other ex-athletes) have been leveraging Section 3600 to file for a rainbow of out of state claims. Recently, a Republican in the California state legislature demanded an overhaul to CA workers’ comp rules to prevent “retired professional athletes with no significant nexus to California to file claims for long-term injuries in the state.”

According to an article in the Insurance Journal, Republicans like Curt Hagman believe that “retired professional athletes who never play for California based teams should not be afforded remedy for claims of cumulative trauma under California’s injured workers statutes.” Technically, California taxpayers may not be responsible for paying the out of state claims. But the jurisdictional issue has raised more than a few alarms, especially now that California is practically drowning in a horrific, multiyear fiscal crisis.

Could something similar happen here in the North Carolina workers’ compensation system? Probably not. California’s uniquely structured laws and history have combined to create this Section 3600 debacle. There is no equivalent law on the books in NC. In fact, it’s far more likely that injured North Carolina athletes will file for claims in California than vice versa.

The debacle raises even bigger and broader questions, such as: how can we systematically determine whether injuries occur from cumulative or single traumatic events? How can the workers’ comp system more fairly and accurately divvy up costs among taxpayers and among states? If ex-NFL players are all reporting chronic injuried stemming from their time in the league, how deep does this problem go? And will the newer generation of NFL stars – who play bigger, faster, and more aggressively – suffer even more cumulative damage in the years and decades to come?

For help with a specific question regarding your potential benefits, struggles with an insurer, or debate with an employer, connect with a reputable North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

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Curt Hagman

Section 3600

Last Wednesday, the NC house passed sweeping and massive reforms to North Carolina workers’ compensation law. The overhaul, led by Republican Representative Dale Folwell, stirred passionate emotions on both sides of the debate. This blog post will examine some of the reader comments in the June 6th issue of the Winston-Salem Journal to give you a sense of the flavor of the debate going on.

The Journal quoted Fletcher Steele, the President of Pine Hall Brick Company — a business owner. He shared very enthusiastic comments about the legislation: “North Carolina workers’ compensation law should be focused on taking care of injured workers and helping them return to work when they are able. Thanks to Rep. Folwell’s leadership, our state may soon have a modern, effective workers’ compensation system that works for both employers and employees, and that is also good for jobs.”

The responses to his editorial reveal a complex debate.

For instance, one commenter who claimed to be a “CEO in a field that… sees more than its fair share of WC claims” said “it’s not surprising Mr. Steele would say WC insurance has contributed to slow job growth. From a macro view, I feel that the state’s cutting of education money will do far more harm to NC’s future job prospects than… this legislation will be able to overcome. The 2009 HS grad rate was only 70%. Hate to see what rates will be in the future. No education equals no jobs.”

Another anonymous commenter, who went by the handle “AJV,” laced into Mr. Steele’s suggestion, even suggesting that the NC Chamber of Commerce “ghost wrote” the editorial. AJV wrote: “so let’s see: he is CEO of a brick company. Potentially a very hazardous work environment… those pesky worker bees having bricks fall on them… breathing in caustic dusts, et cetera. Let’s say that a worker is paralyzed when a pallet of bricks falls on him. What’s a CEO to do? Cut profits. And then what? They expect his company or insurance carrier to take care of that unfortunate worker whose [labor has helped the company profit]?… They busily craft their solution: Limit the worker to no more than 500 weeks of compensation and then dump them for the tax payers to directly support. Sweet! Win! Win! Win! (that is the company, chamber and insurer). “

As these comments clearly illustrate, the debate is passionate and not necessarily civil. Such is the nature of modern politics, perhaps.

Another commenter, who wrote under the handle “native heal” responded to AJVs point: “I have known Fletcher Steele for many years and have had a good business relationship with him for many years as well. He is a good man in an imperfect work situation, as are many others who’ve run large corporations. I am also quite certain that Mr. Steele has a vast more amount of knowledge about workers’ compensation issues than you or I will ever have. I [would rather] light a candle to illuminate the shadows rather than stand in the shadow and throw rocks.”

The rancorous debate notwithstanding, you and your family likely have significant and serious questions about how these laws might affect your potential benefits. An experienced, reputable North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can answer those questions and help you feel relaxed, prepared, and in control to meet the challenges ahead.

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North Carolina Senate passes workers compensation reform bill

Pine Hall Brick Company

Advocates of hurt and injured workers have been lashing out against North Carolina House Bill 709 and Senate Bill 544, two proposed reforms to the North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law currently being debated in the NC General Assembly. A May 13th editorial in the Winston-Salem Journal (“Dismantling the Rights of Workers” by Michael A. Fryar) voices a variety of concerns about the proposed legislation:

• “The bill will remove workers’ rights to privacy with treating physicians and allow insurance companies to talk directly to the patients’ doctors, without the patient even knowing that this is happening or being a part of the conversation.”
• Except under certain circumstances, disability payments will be limited to 500 weeks (approximately 9.5 years)
• “Insurance carriers will have full legal authority to force injured workers into jobs paying only minimum wage without giving any consideration to the pre-injury financial responsibilities.”
• Fryar argues that his research suggests potentially devastating consequences – a wage reduction of up to 75% that will “devastate the average family structure.”

Both advocates and opponents of North Carolina workers’ compensation reform have been putting forth grand pronouncements about how the legislation will impact the state on many levels. Fryar’s attack on the legislation – likely grounded in good statistics – suggests that hurt and injured workers will lose significant rights if the new law passes.

Advocates of the law, on the other hand, say that the state simply cannot afford to finance the entitlement system, at least in its present state. Both sides seem prone to speak in catastrophic terms. And while professionals at experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firms are obviously very concerned about the potential fallout that the legislation might have on workers, it’s important to look at the situation with a cool head and an open perspective.

When you are caught up in a debate over any sensitive topic, it’s easy to think catastrophically – or, conversely, manically. But this way of perceiving events may not only be inaccurate but also destructive. Obviously, hurt workers should advocate forcibly for their rights and benefits. But workers, attorneys, and advocates have far more tools and resources at their disposal than many people realize. For instance, disabled workers bumped off their benefits after 500 weeks (if the legislation passes) will not be simply left to starve on the streets. They will be picked up by some other social safety net, like Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid. Not that this is necessarily a good thing – it shifts the burden of their care from insurance companies to taxpayers, according to critics. But it’s not as nearly as catastrophic as some might fear.

Conversely, North Carolina workers’ compensation reformists might be vastly overestimating the beneficial effects that the passage of the legislation would create. Yes, according to best projections, the state could save substantially. But would the state really put those savings to best use? What about the long-term repercussions of curtailing certain workers’ rights in terms of longer recuperation times and greater chronic frustration among the hurt/injured population, which could translate into reduced spending. Etc, etc.

Over the long-term, the best fixes to the system will likely involve identifying and solving major occupational health issues, such as obesity, diabetes, repetitive stress syndrome, stress at work, and “distractedness.” These issues are apolitical, but they are real, and they likely anchor the system in ways that statisticians, lawmakers, and analysts are only beginning to understand.

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North Carolina House Bill 709

Dismantling the Rights of Workers

As lawmakers mull over how and whether to reform the North Carolina workers’ compensation system, first responders, firefighters, and other volunteers are fretting about what might happen to the Volunteer Safety Workers’ Compensation Fund. This is a fund paid in part by the state and by premiums from 1,300 members, such as firefighters and first responders, to offset North Carolina workers’ compensation coverage costs. It was established in the 1990s, and its current custodians estimate that the fund needs $2 million from North Carolina to survive.

Problem is, the current House budget has allotted just half of that – $1 million – for the fund, and the state may not even make that allocation permanent. In other words, the fund might get $1 million this year, but $0 million the next year. When the fund was established, the original plan was that North Carolina would provide $4.5 million over a period of seven years, until the fund could become self-sustaining. But that amount has been chipped away for various political and financial reasons.

The Executive Director of the North Carolina State Firemen’s Association, Paul Miller, recently voiced concerns about what might happen if the fund fails to be viable. Essentially, the assigned risk pool would have to inflate rates, and this would ultimately lead to the loss of savings that Miller argues are “used to buy equipment, uniforms, and pay for trainings so that North Carolinians can rest assured that they have the very best fire and safety services available.” State Insurance Commissioner, Wayne Goodwin, weighed in on the side of the volunteer workers: “I implore our legislators to fund the Volunteer Safety Workers’ Compensation Fund in a way that allows it to continue to meet its obligation to its members.”

Until the House resolves the debate over potential changes to the law, even a stellar North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm might have a difficult time suggesting an appropriate strategy for firefighters, volunteers, and sick and injured workers. The fact is that, as long as the state’s workers’ comp system remains in a state of limbo, it will be difficult for people, institutions, and funds like this to get a grip on what’s the most appropriate strategy.

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Volunteer Safety Workers’ Compensation Fund

North Carolina State Firemen’s Association

Whether you’ve recently been injured, and you need to collect North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits – or you’re a healthy individual who’s concerned with the North Carolina’s fiscal state, you want to stamp out workers’ comp fraud. When someone – or some company or institution – steals money from the North Carolina workers’ compensation system, you suffer, and the state in general suffers.

Often, the indirect effects are the most insidious.

Breaking news out of Ohio illustrates the seriousness of this crime. According to woio.com – an action news team based out of Ohio – On April 29th, a man named Luiz Paneto pled guilty to a fourth degree felony for defrauding the Ohio workers’ comp system. Paneto was ordered to pay over $24,000 in restitution and nearly $20,000 in investigative costs.

In 2001, Paneto got hurt at work while performing a general contracting service. Shortly thereafter, he began to collect living maintenance and temporary total disability benefits. In 2007, he was granted permanent total disability.

In 2009, however, the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation’s Special Investigations Department received a tip off that Paneto had been doing home remodeling and labor – the same heavy work that he had being doing prior to his 2001 injury.

Per www.woio.com: “[the special investigations department] conducted surveillance and Paneto was seen walking, lifting heavy construction materials, driving his truck, and performing work as a home remodeler… in April 2010 [he] admitted to working in violation of his receipt of BWC benefits.”

Now look: $43,000 is not a tremendous amount of money, especially when you consider the millions of dollars that flow through the North Carolina workers’ compensation system every year.

But every case of fraud essentially pokes holes in people’s trust in the system. Stopping fraud is more than about simply preventing funds from being siphoned off. When fraud happens, suspicion ratchets up, and the system degrades.

If you or someone you care about has been dealing with a benefits issue – or an uncooperative insurer or employer – leverage the resources of a North Carolina workers’ compensation firm today to get results.

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Luiz Paneto fraud

Tensions mounted this week as the debate over potential North Carolina workers’ compensation reforms stoked passions on both sides.

An April 21st article in the Huffington Post quoted the President of North Carolina’s AFL-CIO, James Andrew, about the proposed reforms: “We believe there is a number of provisions being proposed that would hurt workers… [changes to make it more difficult for hurt workers to change physicians and the redefinition of what might constitute suitable employment] would require workers to take Wal-Mart type jobs in an effort to quickly return to work.”

The Post also quotes Ray Evans, the North Carolina Rate Bureau’s current Director, who did his best to cool the tensions between labor groups and business groups over the proposed North Carolina workers’ compensation reforms. Evans said “in this legislative environment, it’s difficult to separate the anecdotal evidence from what we consider more factual evidence… we hear all the time about people on disability out playing golf or basketball. We don’t know if that’s urban legend.”

As this blog reported last year, the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) found that our state’s workers’ comp costs were one of the highest in a group of 15 different states analyzed. Advocates of the Republican sponsored reforms point to this and other related indicators as signs that something must be done – now – to help to us regain fiscal control.

Meanwhile, as the debate rages in the state capital, hurt and injured workers – and their families – are anxiously awaiting the passage (or not) of the bill.

How will passage affect them, personally?

If you or someone you care about has been hurt, will you no longer be able to change doctors as easily, if you want to? Will you be forced to go back to work earlier than you thought? Will your workers’ comp benefits be cut off sooner than you had expected them to be?

These and other uncertainties may be plaguing you. Fortunately, you don’t have to go through this battle alone. A North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can review your situation and help you understand how/if the changes to the law might impact you.

Part of what is so distressing about proposed reforms is that employers and employees alike are stuck in this state of transition. When you are in limbo, it is difficult to plan. Hopefully, this limbo won’t last too much longer, and we will get some resolution either way about the law, so hurt and injured workers and their families can take practical, proactive steps to protect their rights and their benefits.

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Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI)

President of North Carolina’s AFL-CIO, James Andrew

Ohio Governor John Kasich is seeking to lower that state’s workers’ comp rates – if the Governor succeeds, what will that mean for Ohio, and what will it mean in general for the programs of other states, like North Carolina workers’ compensation?

First, the basics, courtesy an April 29 story from the AP: “Ohio’s Governor wants to lower premiums employers pay for workers’ compensation by 4% for a total cut of about $65 million a year.”

Governor Kasich submitted his proposal last Thursday to the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation – his goal is to encourage businesses to work in Ohio and “make the state more competitive.” If the BWC adopts his plan this month, employers would not see changes in their premiums until February 2012. Steve Beuhrer, the CEO of the BWC’s Board of Directors had the following comments regarding the proposal (courtesy www.business-journal.com) “our goal is to increase premium stability and lower costs for all Ohio employers… rates are a critical part of job growth decisions made by Ohio employers, but will also continue to focus on other aspects, such as containing medical costs and helping injured workers return to leading healthy productive lives sooner.”

Beuhrer’s comments here are germane to discussions about how to renovate and streamline the North Carolina workers’ compensation system. It’s NOT just about slashing rates and limiting benefits. Our solutions must also focus on “continuing medical costs” – and perhaps even more importantly “helping injured workers return to leading healthy productive life sooner.” After all, this is the raison d’etre of workers’ comp – it’s to help return us to productivity ASAP.

Unfortunately, the political discussion about workers’ comp reform often revolves around costs: whether to spend or not; on what; and for how long. This inevitably leads to political calculations.

But what if the most relevant parts of the equation are those two factors that Beuhrer named – containing costs and helping people recover?

Perhaps we are giving short shrift to these questions. Maybe we’re not thinking “out of the box” enough. For instance, cost control measures tend to focus on measurable, direct contributing factors. We aim to reduce the severity and number of workplace injuries, for instance. But we don’t take time to look at long-term exacerbating factors. For instance, are workers getting enough rest? Are workers too distracted by things like the internet and social media to concentrate effectively on their tasks? These indirect factors – such as how much sleep we get, how distracted we are, how much sugar we eat, et cetera – must be addressed if we want to lower injury rates and reduce hospital bills.

Backing away from the philosophical discussion… you may have more practical concerns about how to collect benefits and how to deal with insurance companies and employers. A North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can answer your questions and put you on a good track.

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Ohio Governor John Kasich

Steve Beuhrer, the CEO of the BWC’s Board of Directors

On Thursday, May 12, a House committee worked feverishly on North Carolina workers’ compensation legislation designed to relax employer responsibility for workers’ comp claims.

The AP has reported that the current sticking points “include whether employers, their attorneys and their insurers should have greater access to the medical records and doctors of an injured worker. Another issue is whether to cap temporary payments for a totally disabled worker at nearly 10 years.”

Powerful figures in the North Carolina workers’ compensation system are currently “at the table” per the AP, including insurance companies, legal representatives, NC workers’ comp lawyers and the Chamber of Commerce. Workers filled the hearing room in a bid to influence the proceedings. As of 6:41pm on May 12th, no compromise had been yet worked out, but observers remained hopeful that something could be accomplished.

It’s easy during moments like these – when everything seems to be on the line – to get defensive and to start about thinking in catastrophic terms. If you are a hurt or injured worker, for instance, you might worry that reforms will result in unexpected and decidedly unwelcome changes in your recuperation plan and your family’s financial strategy. And, depending on your situation and the outcome of the debate, you very well might have to adjust your expectations.

But it’s a good idea to remember the difference between what productivity guru Steven Covey once designated your “circle of control” and your “circle of influence.” Unless you are currently in the assembly room right now, chances are the bill is way out of your hands. Your best strategy for success, therefore, is to react appropriately to whatever laws get passed (or don’t get passed).

Part of dealing with the fallout effectively is getting good help. A North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can help you understand how the new laws might influence your benefits and take the smartest, most efficient steps towards minimizing any negative fallout.

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House committee works feverishly on NC workers’ comp

Catastrophic thinking

Last week, the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) released a study that found that North Carolina workers’ compensation costs were the highest per claim among 16 states. The WCRI report offers sobering news… but can it really be trusted?

Not according to the North Carolina Advocates for Justice (NCAJ). CEO Dick Taylor put out a scathing statement about the WCRI report, calling it “an unfortunate example of insurance companies and corporations seeking government subsidies by shifting their expenses to tax payers… WCRI is funded by insurances and big corporations and routinely issues reports that support “reforms” that would increase their contributors’ profits.”

The NCAJ rebuttal says that the WCRI charge about payment per claims being too high in NC just doesn’t hold water. North Carolina workers’ compensation “doesn’t cover many injuries sustained in normal work routine. North Carolina has fewer claims… and they are far more severe injuries. Naturally, our average payment per claim is higher.”

The NCAJ rebuttal also points out that the North Carolina workers’ compensation system tends to deliver good value per dollar spent… and at a relatively low cost to employers. NCAJ officials worry that corporate and insurance company interests may be tempted to leverage this WCRI study to slice into benefits for hurt workers. Indeed, business advocates are currently lobbying the North Carolina General Assembly to cut off workers’ comp benefits after 500 weeks. Such a proposal may not be popular – even with conservatives. According to an October poll conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP), the idea of cutting off workers’ comp for hurt workers after 500 weeks is opposed by more than three quarters of liberals and 60% of conservatives.

The fracas over the WCRI report and the NCAJ counterclaims also illustrates a major problem when it comes to formulating public policy. Given enough “torturing” of any data, it can be pretty easy to support your point and/or refute your opponent’s point. For instance, the conclusions you draw may depend on how you look at trends. So it’s incredibly important that policymakers look to multiple perspectives before doing things like enacting major changes to legislation or cutting off benefits to large groups of people.

If someone you care about has been struggling with benefits, a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can be a tremendous ally in your battle to get fair payments and hold your employer and that employer’s insurer totally accountable.

More Web Resources

WCRI Report

NCAJ Rebuttal

Earlier this week, NC Governor Beverly Perdue spoke at length to 100 members of North Carolina’s AFL-CIO about North Carolina worker’s compensation and other critical issues. Gov. Perdue sounded a battle-ready tone as she defended her record of freezing spending, eliminating positions in the state government, stripping benefits programs, and making other Spartan accommodations to jumpstart the state’s economy and attract new businesses to town.

Governor Perdue and the AFL-CIO have been lobbying hard to prevent corporate and insurance interests from enacting legislation that would end North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits for injured workers after 500 weeks. The Governor said: “the AFL-CIO really understands what’s at stake…our future is at stake. Every decision that will take resources away from your child and my child’s public school is a bad decision.”

According to an AP report, North Carolina’s union membership is just 3% – around four times smaller than the national average.

Whether or not business interests enact changes to the North Carolina worker’s compensation system, the governor’s battle with the newly GOP-dominated state legislature seems poised to create political sparks. The Governor seems more than willing to put on her boxing gloves, if her spirited 20 minute speech to the union offers an indication of her fight-readiness.

Benefits issues make for good political theater, but hurt and sick workers care little for these battles over the system. They merely want to get maximum assistance for their injuries/disabilities and get on a path to getting back to work as quickly as possible.

If you or a family member needs help compelling an employer or insurer to provide benefits, consult immediately with a skilled North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

More Web Resources:

NC Governor Beverly Perdue

Gov Perdue addresses AFL-CIO

While this blog attempts to discuss mainly “consumer friendly” information about North Carolina workers’ compensation, sometimes we turn our attention to technical – even abstruse and obscure – stories to “kick the tires” on important issues.

In that vein… a very interesting (in a subtle way) news story broke out of Jefferson City Missouri last week. The MO Attorney General, Chris Koster, finalized an arrangement with two companies that had violated MO’s workers’ comp laws. Both Specialty Risk Services, LLC (a Connecticut-based company) and Broadspire Services, Inc. (a Georgia company) were called to task for failing to file reports on behalf of companies that reported injured workers.

According to Missouri law, worker related accidents must be reported to the Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation within 30 days. Both SRS and Broadspire on many different occasions failed to report injuries by this deadline. The settlement amount was relatively small. Certainly, you can find examples of North Carolina workers’ compensation settlements that don’t make the news that involve much more money. SRS had to pay out $75,000 to Missouri; Broadspire had to pay just $28,500. Also, per the arrangement negotiated by Koster, both companies agreed to having violated Missouri law and agreed to prevent recurrence of violations and stay in compliance for at least two years.

So it’s a small story. And it’s definitely (and, rightly) been buried in the popular press.

But the story hints at something much bigger.

Perhaps a not-insignificant slice of the inefficiencies in the North Carolina workers’ compensation system might be due to the negligence and carelessness of third-party intermediaries. Why is this interesting? Because workers’ comp experts focus nearly exclusively on insurance companies, business owners, employees, and relevant government agencies. They almost certainly don’t bring enough scrutiny to bear on intermediaries like SRS and Broadspire.

This isn’t to say these companies are necessarily bad. Rather, it’s to say that the network of players who impact the NC workers’ comp system may be both broader and deeper than the experts realize. And that means that opportunities for system waste are broader and deeper; and opportunities for powerful corrective actions that can redound to the entire system’s benefit are also possibly more abundant than we realize!

This very technical argument is probably beyond the scope of injured or ill workers who simply want help. If you need assistance to get an employer to pay out benefits, compel an insurance company to treat you fairly, or untangle the red tape that’s wrapped around your claim, get in touch with a responsible, reliable North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

More Web Resources:

A-G Reaches Settlement Over Worker’s Comp Violations

Broadspire

This blog (and other media outlets, both in the mainstream and in the blogosphere) recently reported on a heart breaking North Carolina workers’ compensation case involving a middle school principal in Robeson County who was shot point blank in the face while driving to school.

Principal James Hunt miraculously survived the shooting. And he has managed to recover physically, despite having to undergo 9 facial reconstruction surgeries. But his battle to collect North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits from the Robeson School District and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is perhaps as frustrating as – or even more frustrating than – the ongoing search to find out who pulled the trigger that fateful morning.

As this blog reported several months ago, Hunt won his case. But now the school system has appealed the verdict. According to a WMBF News report, “in the meantime… [Hunt] is living on just 50% of his old salary and what his wife makes as a school secretary.” WMBF reports that: “Hunt… [believes] that since he was on his way to work and was conducting business on his cell phone at the time he was shot, he deserves payment for all the costs his health insurance isn’t picking up.”

It has been established that Hunt was on his cell phone — on school business — when the shooting occurred. And he was also on his way to work.

Hunt’s travails showcase the maddening and senseless complexities that frustrate many workers’ comp claimants.

Here’s another example: remember our blog’s report from several months ago about the woman who slipped and fell on a parking lot while walking to her office? Her employer fought her workers’ comp benefits, even though she fell just inches away from the door to her workplace! Had she crossed the threshold and then fell, she wouldn’t have had any problem.

What’s especially frustrating in cases like Principal Hunt’s is the revelation that institutions built to support employees can abandon them during the time of their greatest need. Principal Hunt got shot because he took a courageous stand against gangs, according to analysts at the North Carolina Industrial Commission. But after the shooting, instead of trying to do right by the principal, his employer fought his workers’ comp case at every step along the way.

Fortunately, if you or a family member or a close friend got injured or sick at work, you don’t have to battle your employer (or your employer’s insurance company) on your own. Talk to qualified experts at a North Carolina workers compensation law firm to review your best next steps.

More Web Resources:

Principal Hunt’s story

Website devoted to finding the shooter

Whether you’ve been on North Carolina workers’ compensation for two weeks or eight years, with your doctor’s blessing, you’re now ready to start looking for part-time work again. This blog post will give you ideas about how to make this transition as painless and productive as possible.

1. Don’t violate the terms of your North Carolina workers’ compensation arrangement

If you take certain work while on workers’ comp, you may violate the terms of your benefits. Not only could you lose your benefits as a result, but you could also get in trouble for North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud. Penalties for fraud can include fines as well as jail time, so play it safe.

2. Don’t go “all in”: Test your limits, and work incrementally towards a full return

For instance, say you twisted your knee badly on a construction site. Your orthopedist and physical therapist helped you recover full function of the damaged joint. Now you’re tempted for financial reasons to get back on site and start drilling holes (or whatever) again. Careful! A too-early return to work could undermine the sensitive reconstruction efforts.

Your basic process should be: “Start small. Test. Ramp up a bit. Test. Ramp up a bit more. Test again.” And so forth. Yes, it can be frustrating to have to hold back when you “know” you could handle more. But the goal here is not a one-time push or exertion – it’s the ability to engage productively in the work that you love for as long as you want to do that work. If you shortcut the recovery process, you may make it difficult, if not impossible, to recover fully.

3. Pay attention to medical issues that snag your attention

Often, in our desperation to return to gainful employment after an injury or illness, we ignore or subconsciously repress feelings of pain, uncertainty, and anguish. Especially if your family is depending on you to produce — and your coworkers and employer are counting on you to “step it up” in the wake of your recent time off — you may be tempted to go faster, harder, or more vigorously than your body is ready for. Don’t ignore your body!

One way to identify your subconscious feelings about your work is to keep a journal. Write down your experiences after every work shift. Note any chronic or acute pain or even general odd feelings you have about your job. Often, these written descriptions of your day-to-day work will give you clues to help avoid re-injury and even speed up your recovery. For instance, you might notice that a specific kind of bending exacerbates your pain. If so, talk to your boss about not having to do that bending work anymore.

4. Get advice you can trust

Is your employer giving you a hard time about your benefits? Are you caught up in insurance red tape? Are you confused about something you read on the North Carolina Industrial Commission (NCIC) website? If so, a qualified North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can give you insight and guidance about how best to proceed.

More Web Resources:

North Carolina Industrial Commission (NCIC) website

going back to work “too soon”

Few industrious workers dream of spending months or years out on North Carolina workers’ compensation, earning less than they had been earning and struggling to break through the red tape put up by employers and insurance companies. That said, workers often pay surprisingly little attention to easy preventative measures that could drastically reduce their likelihood of going on workers’ comp. Here is a primer on common mistakes and how to avoid them.

1. Fail to Take Breaks

Do you sit for 10 hours a day at a computer and type or do work on the web? Do you work at an industrial facility and engage in repetitive motions? The longer you perform an activity, and the more repetitious that activity is, the more likely you will be to get hurt from that activity. Even mousing on your computer too much can distort your musculoskeletal system, cause inflammation, and force you to compensate in awkward and potentially dangerous ways.

In addition to getting better ergonomic equipment and more variation in your job, make sure to take breaks. Don’t expect to take them automatically. Use a computer program (or app on your phone) to remind you to take breaks every 15 minutes or 30 minutes.

2. Fail to Review Safety Information

Imagine your first day on an assembly line job where you deal with hot liquids, giant pieces of machinery, and huge blades slicing through things. Chances are, you will pay a lot of attention to your supervisor as she walks you through safety tips and procedures. Now cut to eight months later. You come in for a standard, typical day – in the same dangerous setting. Do you think eight months into your job, you will be as respectful of the machinery as you were on Day One? Probably not. The machines are just as dangerous, though!

To prevent getting lulled into a “disrespect” of workplace dangers, set a calendar reminder to review safety procedures and protocols. Make your safety reminders as vivid as you can so they’ll stick in your mind.

3. Give into a “Culture of Danger”

Human beings are notoriously susceptible to social influences. If you work at an office where every employee cleans up, adheres rigorously to safety protocols, and logs all mistakes, chances are that you will take those actions too. On the other hand, if you work in a place where employees slack off and ignore glaring problems, chances are that you will ignore problems too.

There is a way to combat this tendency. First off, if you are a supervisor or owner of a company, be on the alert for “slacking off” and take immediate measures to stop it. If you work at a place where employees disrespect workplace dangers, consciously strive to “break” from this culture of danger and follow safe and proper conduct. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to go against the grain in a workplace culture, so it’s easier to have management work on this for you. But if you can’t make headway, at least start with yourself and see if you can’t recruit a few other likeminded individuals to join you in creating a culture that’s more safety conscious.

To get efficient help with your claim, contact a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm. Whether your employer is withholding benefits or the responsible insurance company is holding up your benefits in red tape, a good attorney team can make an enormous difference.

More Web Resources:

Culture of Carelessness at work

power of social influences

An intriguing new study published in the January issue of the magazine Spine has critical implications for North Carolina Workers’ Compensation patients. The study, out of Massachusetts’ General Hospital, looked at nearly 1,000 patients with lower back pain and leg pain stemming from herniated discs and sciatica. Some patients underwent surgery to treat back problems. Other patients received non-surgical interventions such as drugs, physical therapy, and exercise plans. The leader of the study, Dr. Steven Atlas, discovered that, while surgery initially yielded better results for patients; after two years, the differences between the surgery patients and non-surgery patients dwindled away – at least for Workers’ Comp patients.

In other words, injured patients who got surgery for sciatica faired equally as well as injured patients who did non-surgical treatment, two years down the road. The implications for treatment of North Carolina Workers’ Compensation patients seem pretty profound. They suggest that surgery may not be the best course for action for some sciatica patients.

Here is one potential explanation of these results: BOTH surgery and non-surgical interventions may not deal effectively enough with fundamental back health problems. Consider: nodules of fibrous tissue (called trigger points) will form at stressed sites in the muscle tissue. These trigger points have been implicated in causing all sorts of soft tissue injuries and repetitive stress problems, from Carpel Tunnel Syndrome to lower back pain. Neither of the two interventions studied effectively located and resolved the trigger points that might have been causing/exacerbating the sciatica. Thus, it makes sense that the treatments would yield similar (less than stellar) results two years out.

It would be interesting to see how the patients studied would have compared with a third cohort of patients who received trigger point therapy and other soft tissue treatments for their backs.

The big point here is that North Carolina Workers’ Compensation patients must keenly research their treatment options. What is in vogue today, medically, may be disproven tomorrow. Thus, it’s important to speak with your physician at length before making any decisions. Informed patients can work more effectively with their doctors and, theoretically, develop more proactive recovery plans.

For assistance with any North Carolina Workers’ Compensation legal questions, get in touch with a qualified and top caliber attorney today for a free, no obligation, and confidential consultation.

More Web Resources:

Dr. Steven Atlas Back Study

Trigger Points and Back Issues

Few hardworking individuals prefer to stay on North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits indefinitely. Unfortunately, with the state’s job market still somewhat in limbo – and with your own medical future potentially in doubt, you and your family may be losing hope that you will ever be able to transition back to the workforce in a real and meaningful way. This blog post will hopefully inspire you to realize that return to work is indeed possible – and you may be able to get back on track faster than you ever realized. Here are some things to think about:

1. Are you really getting the “best care” for your condition?

Employees’ who suffer an occupational disease, like chemically-induced emphysema or repetitive work-induced damage to soft tissue, do not always get high quality care from their doctors. Busy physicians may overlook important causes; a more holistic approach to wellness may be needed. For instance, say a person gets a serious typing injury while working at a bank in the Research Triangle. His doctor gives him cortisone shots. These don’t work, so he’s told to undergo surgery. The surgery may offer temporary relief. But the underlying insults to the soft tissues and ligaments and muscles may not be repaired – thus, someone on North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits may remain out of good working condition… until he re-learns how to use his or her body correctly and eliminates fibrous nodules called “trigger points” in the upper back, chest, and thoracic regions.

2. Focus on your goals and eliminate your road blocks

Professionals in athletics and business coaching often emphasize goal-oriented thinking. Rehab specialists also encourage thinking in terms of goals – and using visualization. But many recovering workers are never encouraged to think in vivid positive terms about the future. They are merely told to “get back to normal.” It may be more helpful to aim for a very positive, optimistic outlook to galvanize healing. It’s a lot more exciting, for sure, to think about going back to work and earning twice as much as you had been earning than it is to daydream about maybe, possibly getting your old job back and working half the hours.

3. Focus on improving your strength

When you are on disability, you may be tempted to spend a lot of time resting and recuperating. This is good. But don’t let this sedentary attitude harden. Improving your muscular strength can have many long-term benefits. Talk to your doctor and rehab specialist about doing isometric strength training exercises (ideally, in a slow, controlled fashion) to speed up your recovery time.

4. Avail yourself of good legal resources

A North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can provide a free evaluation of your current situation and help you think strategically about how to collect benefits, how to budget for the near and mid-term future, and how to get additional resources to improve your recovery.

More Web Resources:

Strength Training Help

RSI resources

Last Wednesday, the Montana House of Representatives passed a piece of legislation barring illegal immigrants from being able to collect workers’ comp benefits – the measure has set off a vigorous debate among North Carolina workers’ compensation and illegal immigration analysts.

Here’s what’s going on and why:

The Montana Legislature is gearing up to “fight” illegal immigration and the negative consequence of this immigration. In addition to HB 71, which bars illegals from collecting workers’ comp, Montana lawmakers will likely vote soon on a bill that will require driver’s license applicants to verify their immigration status through a Federal database.

Last Wednesday’s 69 to 31 vote in favor of HB 71 was hailed by supporters, who believe the law will curtail workers’ comp costs and disincentivize employers from hiring illegal immigrants. Opponents, however, argue that hurt workers will now be forced to use hospital emergency services; the costs of their care will be passed down to consumers and insurers. They also argue that businesses which hire illegal immigrants – even accidentally – can now be penalized with serious lawsuits – suits big enough to destroy companies. A Republican from Sydney, Representative Walter McNutt, remarked: “It might only be four cases, but it could put an employer out of business… think hard before you vote for this. You may not be doing the best thing you can for the business people and employers of the state.”

The Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia (DC) recently voted to overturn a similar measure that said employers did not have to provide workers’ comp for illegal immigrants.

If you or a coworker or relative faces difficulties collecting from an employer or an insurance company, get good, reasoned assistance as early as you can in the process. Talk to a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm about what you can and should do to make the process faster, simpler, and more economical.

More Web Resources:

HB 71

Bill to deny workers’ comp to illegal immigrants clears House

In Part I on our series on hot button North Carolina workers’ compensation issues for 2011, we discussed how escalating health care costs, information overload online, and confusion over “independent contractor” status have redefined the national and local NC workers’ comp systems. In today’s post, we will examine other burning issues that insurers, analysts, employees, and employers will be debating this calendar year.

1. Confusion over Medicare Set-Aside Arrangements

The so-called Medicare Secondary Payer laws – MSP laws – can be overwhelming, even to people who have familiarity with the laws in theory and practice. A hurt worker can lose key Medicare benefits if he or she fails to deal with his or her MSP issues effectively during a settlement. Indeed, a scary number of experts remain confused about things like the best practices for dealing with Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside Arrangements (WCMSA).

2. Is workers’ comp litigation helping or hurting?

Detractors of workers’ comp litigation point to the fact that institutions like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have ramped up their legal activity thanks to expansions of laws like the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the ADA, and the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. With so many legal disputes in the works, some analysts fear a break down in employer-employee trust.

Obviously, litigation for litigation’s sake can clearly damage the economy and degrade trust. But critics of the EEOC should recognize that that group and others like it may merely be responding to longstanding unfair industry practices. It should be possible to work out “win-win” arrangements to simultaneously reduce litigation and improve conditions for both employees and employers. For instance, the strategic use of “social nudges” to prevent people from engaging in bad behavior and encouraging more generous employer-employee relationships could really help.

3. The frequency of workers’ comp claims may be reversing

Starting in the early 90s, the number of claims filed per company payroll began to decline. This reduced caseload helped to counterbalance the increase of medical and rehab costs. But the frequency of claims may be picking up again… adding yet another stressor to the North Carolina workers’ compensation system and other state systems.

4. The obesity and diabetes epidemics

Good data suggest that the increased prevalence of obesity and diabetes (sometimes known as “diabesity”) may be driving up health and medical care costs throughout North Carolina and other states. This epidemic not only creates additional cost control problems but also indirectly impacts the job market itself.

5. Bad advice at the beginning of your research can bias you and make you continue to make poor decisions

Social science findings show that the quality of the resources you initially tap into can have a dramatic influence on your long-term prospects for economic and medical recovery.

To that end, it may be helpful for you or your injured coworker to connect with a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm that has the resources, track record, and wherewithal to deliver excellent service.

More Web Resources:

Medicare Secondary Payer

Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

From the corridors of the Research Triangle to rural parts of Western NC, North Carolina workers’ compensation specialists have been reviewing crucial trends in the industry and trying to identify the major issues that will shape the system in 2011. In a two-part blog post, we will be exploring pertinent studies and ideas weighing on the minds of physicians, employers, insurers, injured workers, and government policymakers.

1. OSHA bringing down the hammer

OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has stepped up its enforcement activity, according to the National Safety Council. The agency expects to collect $1 million this fiscal year for each of its 10 biggest penalties. A National Safety Council report indicates that, while the organization’s “Top 10” list of major workplace violations will remain the same, “the agency’s message of strong enforcement is clear.”

2. Medical costs continue to escalate: When and how will it all stop?

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has found that workers’ comp claims are skyrocketing – they now represent nearly 60% of all claims. A study in the January 2010 Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine reported that “injury types or diagnoses that don’t have clearly defined treatment pathways could easily lead to higher costs.”

Notably, fewer than 4% of all doctors are responsible for nearly three-quarters of workers’ comp costs. Perhaps by targeting those physicians and trying to help them treat patients more cost effectively, the North Carolina’s workers’ compensation system and other state systems could save some money without reducing care quality.

3. Hurt workers finding it harder than ever to get work

The “Great Recession” that stretched from 2008 to 2010 — and the relatively anemic recovery that’s followed — has meant that workers throughout the Atlantic region have found it difficult to earn effectively. That means hurt workers are finding it harder to get new work. This lag in reemployment stretches out temporary total disability benefit periods. This creates a drag on the system and a disincentive for hurt workers to find reemployment.

4. Murky definition of “independent contractors”

When should someone be considered an employee under workers’ comp law, and when should he or she be considered an independent contractor or freelancer? The answer may not be as clear cut as most employers and employees realize. The US Department of Labor, among other institutions, is cracking down. The DOL compelled employers to pay 5,200+ employees $6.5 million in back wages in 2010 – that’s more than double the 2009 numbers.

5. Information overload and confusion among workers’ comp beneficiaries… going WAY up

Despite the proliferation of websites, blogs, and other informational sources about workers’ comp (or maybe because of them), injured claimants are finding themselves more and more overwhelmed and confused by the sheer glut of often contradictory resources.

If you are struggling with a workers’ comp issue – or a friend or a family member is – get a free consultation from a qualified North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

More Web Resources:

About the Research Triangle

National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI)

On December 23, 2010, the AP reported that American Insurance Group Incorporated (AIG) and its various affiliates accepted a deal to pay approximately $146.5 million in fines, taxes and assessments. Officials from all 50 states – including North Carolina workers’ compensation officials — will have until March 1st to adopt a deal brokered by eight states: Pennsylvania, Indiana, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Indiana.

During the recent financial downturn, AIG served as a poster child of corporate insurance excess and mismanagement. The Federal Government and Treasury ultimately had to step in with $182 billion to rescue the company – the largest such bailout in the country’s history. In that context, this hefty $146.5 million settlement may look like a pittance. But what are these fines and assessments for?

Essentially, the company reported its workers’ comp premiums as commercial auto liability and/or general premiums. This subtle bookkeeping tactic allowed AIG to underreport its workers’ comp premiums to the tune of $2.12 billion. The violations occurred over a decade and a half ago. Nevertheless, per the arrangement, AIG only has until March 1st to re-file its statements. If it does not do so or fails to adhere to a 24-month monitoring regimen, the company could face another $150 million in fines.

In the political battle over how best to take care of the nation’s sick and injured workers, big insurance companies, like AIG, often get blackballed as “the enemy.” And while no one would defend poor bookkeeping and management practices – like underreporting workers’ comp premiums to rack up a profit – the Byzantine nature of most states workers’ comp programs should give us pause before we render judgment against the likes of AIG. Could there be a way to cut the Gordian knot? Can we, collectively – insurers, employers, employees, and interested government officials – adopt procedures, processes, and tactics to save money, help workers more, and ensure that businesses don’t get overrun by regulations, paperwork, or excess costs?

Unfortunately, so many participants — in the North Carolina workers’ compensation system and other state systems — seem so bent on blaming or punishing their “enemies” that we’ve collectively failed to give enough attention to win-win-win solutions. Strategies along those lines might include:

• Adopt better information processing and sharing throughout organizations, including government bureaucracies.
• Install better productivity rules, such as Parkinson’s Law and the Pareto principle (a.k.a the 80-20 rule)
• Ensure better ergonomic practices at work
• Make sure that employees take regular breaks to avoid fatigue
• Limit the availability of sugary processed foods in office vending machines and at grocery stores that service employees and employers.

Getting away from the abstract and back to a more practical discussion… if you or a relative or someone you care about has come down with an occupational illness or disease, a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can provide much needed guidance and strategic assistance.

More Web Resources:

AIG to pay $146M over workers compensation lawsuit

AIG Agrees to $100 Million Settlement in Probe

Injured or sick workers who are forced to rely on North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits to pay for medical care, surgical bills, and replacement wages often spend a tremendous amount of energy battling their employers and insurance companies to get fair payment and appropriate treatment. Simultaneously, they must reconfigure their family budgets, repurpose their careers, and manage various medical costs, drugs, and procedures.

If you or someone you care about has been swamped by this kind of chaos, you likely empathize with how difficult it can be to “right one’s ship.” Moreover, aiming merely for a return to the status quo before you got hurt/sick is kind of dispiriting. You would much rather aim for something better than what you had before you got sick or injured. But is striving for greatness really possible when you must confront a gauntlet of face pesky insurance rules and medication side effects?

This essay attempts to rekindle your hope that a better life is possible – not just a return to “normal” but actually an elevation to a better state of mind, work, life, and financial possibilities.

First things first, it’s important to accept precisely where you are now in your life, financially, physically, and psychologically. “Accepting” doesn’t necessarily mean agreeing that this should be your ultimate reality – it simply means acknowledging what’s true now. One good method to clear your head is to use the productivity system developed by best-selling author David Allen. In his book Getting Things Done (GTD), Allen recommends that individuals make a total and comprehensive inventory of “open loops” — anything in your life that’s bothering you or that has a grasp on your attention in any way. Once you have everything out of your head and onto a written form – a Microsoft Word document will do – then it becomes infinitely easier to process this information and organize what to do with it next.

Another powerful method to help you deal with your North Carolina workers’ compensation issues – or any other problems in your life – is to spend some time envisioning “best case” scenarios. Imagine yourself in the future from a place of great success. What does your life look like? How do you feel? Where do you work? What’s happened to your injuries? How have you dealt with your insurer and/or employer? How have you managed the anger, confusion, and overwhelm about the accident? Once you have a vision of your success, it becomes a lot easier for you to figure out how to get there.

This may sound like a lot of homework – and it certainly is — but it’s also empowering work. When you’ve been knocked off your game by an injury or a workplace accident or illness, it becomes all too easy to mope around in self pity, confusion, and helplessness. You can go numb to your actual life and ignore potential useful advice. These kinds of written exercises – getting stuff out of your head onto an objective format for easy review and envisioning ultimate success without prejudging your vision – can make an enormous difference not just in terms of your actual on the ground success but also in terms of your psychological state.

On a more practical note, if you are struggling to deal with an insurer or an employer or a confusing series of forms, don’t struggle alone. Get help from a responsive and compassionate North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm right now.

More Web Resouces:

Getting Things Done

Power of Intention

Last Wednesday, the North Carolina Personnel Commission ruled that it could not reinstate former Cherry Hospital employee O’Tonious Raynor to his job, marking a setback for a man who went through a long and drawn out process to collect North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits for eye injuries he sustained in a fight with a patient.

Raynor got into a fight with a schizophrenic patient in early March 2010. 55 year-old Bernard Freeman had been smoking when he wasn’t supposed to. Raynor interfered, and Freeman snapped and punched Raynor in the face, seriously hurting his eye. Raynor then pinned the patient down against some furniture and stood on his broken hand. Although the initial fight happened in a common area under surveillance, Raynor then wrestled Freeman out of view of the cameras into a nearby bedroom. Raynor later confessed: “I didn’t intend to hurt the patient. I felt like I was in danger, and I did the best I could under the circumstances…he told me “when I get up, I am going to kill you.””

The North Carolina Department of Justice examined the case against Raynor. No charges were filed. A judge agreed that Raynor used excessive force, but he also argued that the hospital could have simply disciplined him instead of firing him outright.

As this case illustrates, North Carolina workers’ compensation situations can get quite complicated and even ethically tricky. If a worker causes his own injury through carelessness (even partially), he may find it difficult to collect money for medical bills, surgeries, back pay, and lost wages. For instance, say you and some co-workers goofed around at a construction site. You then slipped on some tar, twisted your knee, and tore a ligament. Your employer might argue that your goofing around caused (or exacerbated) the injury and thus you should not be entitled to benefits or should be entitled only to limited benefits.

To clarify your rights and responsibilities, it’s important to get excellent legal guidance. Any on-the-record admissions you make – even seemingly minor admissions – can hamper your chance to get the money you need to support your family and recover. If an insurance company or employer has unfairly denied benefits to you, you can take legal steps to compel them to make good. A North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can provide a free and effective (and confidential) consultation about your injuries and advise you about the best next steps to take.

More Web Resources:

O’Tonious Raynor’s story

Cherry Hospital

Before leaving his post as Attorney General and ascending to the governorship of New York state, Andrew Cuomo finalized an 11th hour $120 million workers’ comp settlement. The arrangement is fraught with complications and has many North Carolina workers’ compensation experts scratching their heads.

The gist of the settlement

Four insurance companies — Zurich Financial Services of Switzerland, ACE Group of New York, CNA Insurance of Chicago and Pennsylvania Manufacturers — worked out a long-brewing dispute with the state of New York. In 2000, NY lawmakers created two different rules to govern how surcharges would be assessed and collected. These rules in some ways contradicted each other. This led some insurance companies to collect too much and some insurers to collect not enough surcharges from customers. In 2009 and 2010, New York’s Workers’ Comp Law got amended to stop this overcharging process. But this left NY officials with the onerous task of then figuring out how much money to collect from overcharging insurance companies and how precisely to get that money.

Now that the insurers have agreed to divulge their excess funds, this story should die down. Cuomo admitted as much last Friday: “these four groups of insurance companies have done the responsible thing by agreeing to resolve their disputes with the state.”

Obviously, North Carolina workers’ compensation disputes can also get quite complicated – and the byzantine rules and regulations that insurance companies and other policy analysts must comb through can give even the most experienced experts serious headaches.

But a complicated, multi-million dollar brouhaha over insurance minutiae may not exactly be relevant to you if you suffer from a chronic lower back problem or occupational disease you got at a Raleigh factory job or Research Triangle bank job.

If you’ve suffered an injury or a sickness at work, and you are confused about your rights or about how to collect money from an employer from an insurance company, discuss your needs, priorities, and concerns with a qualified North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm. Informed with good information and strategic guidance, you can heal more quickly from your injuries and get back to the business of bringing in money and supporting your family.

More Web Resources

Andrew Cuomo

NY’s $120 million workers’ comp settlement

Many in the North Carolina workers’ compensation community have spent some serious time looking over the $1.5 million settlement award handed out to prison guards at Menard Correctional Center in Illinois. In case you haven’t been following the news, this massive case has drawn attention throughout the nation not just because of its size but also because it represents (to some pundits) an example of systematic waste.

55 workers – most of them guards – will collect between $22,000 and $120,000 to pay for damages stemming from chronic hand, wrist, and elbow injuries they sustained while locking and unlocking manual crank wheels and keys. Approximately 10% of guards at Menard experienced serious repetitive trauma. The prison’s warden, 35 year-old David Rednour, will collect more than $75,000 not because of injuries he sustained at the correctional center but because of injuries he sustained at an earlier job working for the IL police department.

The $1.5 million settlement – and, in particular, Mr. Rednour’s settlement – has angered many local Illinoisans, including State Senator Kyle McCarter, who responded to the news with this passionate statement: “The abuses and the fraud in the workers’ compensation system in Illinois have gotten out of control and are costing tax payers more than they ever will know… we have to take a strong stand against this while helping out workers who are legitimately hurt on the job. The fraud and abuse has got to go. It’s driving business out of the state.”

Rhetorical opponents of the Senator in Illinois (and here in the North Carolina workers’ compensation community) would likely retort something to the effect of: “Yes, sure: abuse and fraud corrupt the system and generate problems for everyone touched by it. That said, is there a better way to deal with the costly and painful occupational injuries that these workers are stuck with? And if so, what is it?”

Unfortunately, debates over workers’ compensation often devolve into essentially political tantrums. One side says the workers’ comp system is bloated and corrupt. The other side says that benefits are essentially always appropriate.

Instead of this unproductive conversation, it might help to look for ways to shortcut problems. For instance, what if the injured correctional facility workers got better treatment for their repetitive stress problems? A growing body of evidence suggests that repetitive stress injuries are not merely “local” injuries. Rather, they involve chronic distortions of muscle, soft tissue, bones and ligaments. Therefore, they should be treated not necessarily with an array of modalities, such as strength training, trigger point massage, and enhanced body awareness.

The point here is that, rather than see cases like the Menard case devolve into shouting matches, let’s quit the blame game and get on to the business of drafting creative and results-oriented solutions.

To that end, if you or someone you care about has been struggling with a benefits-related issue, get immediate and confidential help from a top level North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

More Web Resources:

Menard Correctional Center

Debate over Menard Compensation

Last year, 38 year-old James Hunt, a former Principal for Fairmont Middle School in Southeastern NC, got shot in the face with a shot gun while driving to school. Fortunately, Hunt survived (albeit with ongoing pain and chronic injuries), but his North Carolina workers’ compensation battle had just begun…

The Robeson County School System initially refused to pay his benefits — which included $60,000 a year and medical expenses — in spite of the fact that Hunt had been driving to school when he got shot and that the shooter almost certainly committed the attack in response to Hunt’s attempts to rid his school of gang violence. An official from the North Carolina Industrial Commission, Philip Baddour III, said that the shooting attack almost certainly “arose out of [Hunt’s] employment because the shooting was more likely than not related to his anti-gang activities as school Principal.” Furthermore, Baddour said that Hunt had been talking on a cell phone issued by the district about Middle School business. Hunt remains disconcerted by the attempt on his life, and the mystery shooting prompted Hunt’s supporters to create the website www.whoshotprincipalhunt.com to ferret out the truth.

Per the terms of his North Carolina workers’ compensation agreement, Hunt will get his wages compensated as well as his medical/surgical bills. In a statement, Hunt said that: “it’s just unfortunate we had to take this route to get the help I need… I really felt like my school system, my employer, let me down on this. They left me hanging.”

If you or someone you care about has similarly faced frustrating issues collecting benefits or dealing with an insurance company, get good help from a qualified and compassionate North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm. You likely have many rights and resources available that can help you resolve your troubles with minimal stress and maximal efficacy.

More Web Resources:

www.whoshotprincipalhunt.com

Ex-principal wins workers comp; Sues school system over 2009 shooting

The typical case of North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud involves only one kind of crime. But a breaking case out of the Bronx has been getting special attention throughout the workers’ comp community for its sheer complexity. On December 15th, New York police arrested 60-year-old Rosa Rivera, after prosecutors investigating her for federal tax fraud discovered that she had collected over $135,000 in workers’ comp benefits from New York State illegally. Ms. Rivera’s compounding legal woes illustrate just how seriously the government takes any fraud. Her story serves as a cautionary tale for those who have been toying with the idea of skirting the workers’ comp laws, rules and regulations.

It all began in 2002. Rivera, who had been working as a bookkeeper, hurt her elbow, ankle and knee at work. She claimed the injuries prevented her from working. The NY Workers’ Compensation Board awarded her $400 a week in benefits. Meanwhile, in 2004, right under the nose of authorities, she began operating an income tax filing service out of her home. She ran this business for 5 years, until she was stopped in October 2009 and charged with fraud for filing false tax returns for her business. In September, Ms. Rivera pled guilty to the federal charges and got ordered to pay restitution in excess of $150,000. She also faces a two year probation.

Now, with this additional workers’ comp fraud charge — a fraud amounting to $135,000+ allegedly purloined from the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) — she may face up to 7 years behind bars. Her hearing at a Suffolk County Court has yet to be scheduled.

Defrauding the North Carolina workers’ compensation system – or any state system – can get you in serious trouble, even if you plead things like hardship or extreme circumstances. For instance, Ms. Rivera’s benefits of $400 a week certainly could not be considered lavish by any standards – particularly by New York City standards. So it’s understandable that individuals on worker’s comp might want to find ways to supplement their income. But if you skirt the law or bilk the system by lying about your injuries — pretending they’re worse than they really are — not only do you cheat the legitimately injured, but you also create hostility and distrust amongst the various participants in the NC workers’ comp system.

If you’ve been having trouble with an insurance company or employer — or with the bureaucracy in general — a qualified North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can provide crucial, timely guidance. Empower yourself today by getting a better education in workers’ comp rules.

More Web Resources:

New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF)

Rosa Rivera’s Double Trouble – Tax Fraud and Worker’s Comp Fraud

Most blogs and journal articles about North Carolina workers’ compensation focus on local, state, regional, and (occasionally) interstate issues. But a feisty debate over worker’s rights and entitlements half a world away in Canberra, Australia has many local analysts, insurers, and employers talking.

According to an ABC News report, the Australian ACT Government’s proposals to amend workers’ comp legislation in Canberra sent hundreds of Aussie workers to the streets. Unions for tradespeople, bus drivers, and nurses, in particular, have vociferously opposed the proposed changes. A local union secretary, Kim Sattler, articulated the workers’ case plaintively: “people work hard, and they are bargaining to actually maintain proper wages and conditions and entitlements. And yet each time we come back to the table, we are asked to reduce those requests… workers are the ones who are paying the price of economic prosperity for everybody else.”

The ABC News article points out that the ACT Government opposes the union challenges and says that the unions “want to protect the rights of a small minority.” Katy Gallagher, a minister of Industrial Relations for the Government, noted “[the Unions] have always taken this position, but we’ve been working for years on trying to improve workers’ compensation… we are very worried that only about 17% of the scheme’s funds actually go to rehabilitation costs.”

The reason why this Australian story may be germane to North Carolina workers’ compensation issues is that it touches on a very thorny issue: namely, what percentage of workers’ comp entitlements actually go towards healing workers and getting them back to work? And what percentage gets wasted or serves merely to “indulge” lazy or non-motivated injured workers?

It’s almost impossible to quantify, in a meaningful way, when entitlements cross the line from serving as a needed help to becoming a crutch for workers and a drain on the system. Only the most die-hard libertarians would argue that the state should do away with its compensation system. Likewise, even the most die-hard workers’ comp advocates would not argue that the state’s entitlement systems shouldn’t have regulations and cost controls.

The $64,000 question is: where can we find the delicate balance between these extreme positions?

Moreover, what can be done to maximize the leverage that workers’ comp dollars yield for both workers and for the economy? For instance, this blog has talked a lot about preventative care. In other words, if we could collectively focus more on preventing workplace accidents, injuries, and illnesses, we could far better leverage the monies that flow through the system. For instance, eliminating sugary snacks and soda beverages at offices probably wouldn’t cost much… but it would likely yield serious savings in terms of better employee health over the long term.

Pulling back from this abstract discussion… let’s focus on your concerns as an injured or sick worker. You may not be getting fair due from the system because an employer is not cooperating with you or an insurance company is acting in bad faith somehow. To drive the system to be more responsive, get in touch with a qualified North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm now.

More Web Resources:

ABC News report on Canberra workers’ comp crisis

ACT Government

Many high profile North Carolina workers’ compensation cases have major interstate elements. A recent case filed by the Texas Insurance Department’s Division of Workers’ Compensation demonstrates how interconnected states like North Carolina, Texas, and Pennsylvania can be when it comes to workers’ comp claims and insurance disputes.

A Philadelphia-based company called ACE American Insurance Company was fined $221,000 for failing to pay key medical costs and failing to comply with the Texas Workers’ Comp Commissioner’s rulings. According to local sources, ACE had to pay a $74,000 fine pursuant to the company’s failure to respond to preauthorization requests and failure to pay for certain key treatments, services, and emergency care. In a second case, the insurance company paid out $147,000 pursuant to its failure to pay indemnity and medical benefits and failure to comply with the Texas Commissioner’s orders. ACE also did not pay medical bills according to Texas’ medical fee guidelines.

While this kind of case is not exactly novel – insurance companies have been known to try every tactic and strategy in the book to get out of paying North Carolina workers’ compensation claims – the story does illustrate the truly interstate ramifications of workers’ comp disputes.

Here you have a Philadelphia-based company dealing with allegations drawn up by the Texas Workers’ Comp Commissioner. Although states do make independent decisions regarding their workers’ comp programs, this case illustrates the essential interconnectedness of the US workers’ comp systems. National and even transnational players, like insurance companies, funds, and big businesses, often get deeply embroiled in state-specific litigation.

Fortunately, most workers’ comp claimants don’t have to worry about these highly technical ramifications. If you have been recently injured at work – or if you know someone who has come down with an occupational disease, such as bronchitis or repetitive stress injury, from work related activities – you want a simple, clear and precise strategy to get your benefits as quickly as possible and reboot both your health and your career.

Talk to an experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm to develop and execute a sound plan of action to get the help you need.

More Web Resources:

Texas Insurance Department’s Division of Workers’ Compensation

Case against ACE American

Often, debates about the efficacy and fairness of the North Carolina workers’ compensation system revolve around isolating an “at fault” constituency and punishing that constituency. For instance, there is the “insurance companies are to blame” school; there is the “stingy/unethical employers are to blame” school; there is the “lazy lying workers are to blame” school; and there is the “entire system is broken so there’s really nothing any well-intentioned person can do anymore” school.

Unfortunately, by dividing up the participants in the North Carolina’s workers’ compensation system into “good guys” and “bad guys” – irrespective of the rightness or wrongness of those categorizations – we may be overlooking some easy “win-win” solutions that could improve the system’s efficacy and effectiveness without causing pain to any participants.

One important strategy involves information sharing and information processing. Like most state workers’ comp systems, the North Carolina workers’ compensation system often finds itself gummed up by needless bureaucracy, long wait times, and paperwork. Almost all organizations – state run and privately run – find themselves overloaded with information these days. This overload makes it difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff — harder to make good decisions.

Practically speaking, this might mean that an injured woman who needs back pain medication may have to go through a grueling wait process to get approved. Or it might mean that an employer gets stuck dealing with tons of workers’ comp paperwork and has to spend dozens of man-hours dealing with claim forms instead of attending to his business. Even insurance companies suffer from the stifling bureaucracy. All of the paper shuffling and information mis-management that goes on at big insurers surely drains these companies’ bottom lines. Insurers may then end up passing these costs down to consumers.

So how can we go about in some systematic, industry-wide way cutting through the clutter and eliminating bureaucracy? Obviously, this is way too big a topic for one small blog post to handle. But consider these suggestions:

1. Solicit ideas from people “in the trenches” about how/where we can collectively save time, money and resources.

Talk to everybody involved, from the state insurance commissioner down to claims processors, injured workers, and small business employers, about their frustrations and innovations. There is no need to impose “top-down” solutions to cut through bureaucracy – often, the people “in the trenches” intuitively and immediately understand what needs to be done.

2. Simplify Simplify Simplify

Apply the “KISS” (Keep it Simple, Stupid) principle throughout the system to identify and do away with needless complications, paperwork, and restrictions.

3. Restrict the flow of information to find liberation.

Author Timothy Ferriss in The 4-Hour Work Week, talks about the benefits of a “low information diet.” By allowing information to pour into your environment, office, insurance company, or wherever, you set the stage for info overload and overwhelm. The easy fix is to turn down the informational faucet – to eliminate all but the most essential, need-to-know info from your life and business.

If you or someone you care about got hurt at work or suffered a job-related chronic illness, you may have lots of questions about how to handle your benefits case. Connect with a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm today to explore methods for getting more out of your case.

More Web Resources:

Getting Things Done — Better information processing philosophy

Information Overload dangers

On December 8, New York police arrested Kevin Schwebke, a 26-year-old corrections officer, for felony grade workers’ comp fraud. North Carolina workers’ compensation pundits and others who follow stories about fraud and corruption in the world of workers’ comp, have been hotly discussing the legal and even moral implications of this matter.

First, the facts. Schwebke had been working at the Coxsackie Correctional Facility in 2009 when he got into an accident on the job that damaged his ankles. After undergoing surgery, Schwebke went on workers’ compensation. Up until Wednesday, he had amassed $34,000 in payments. Meanwhile, Schwebke continued working for the Cairo Police Department on a part-time basis – in violation of his workers’ comp arrangement. The Chief of Police, Chris Sprague, said that he had not been aware that Schwebke had been collecting workers’ comp.

If convicted of the class E felony charge, Schwebke could face a seven-year state prison sentence. He will appear at Albany County Court to face the charges at a later date.

This seemingly simple case has some very interesting implications. Let’s just say that the 26-year-old did in fact lie about his physical condition to collect the $34,000 illegally.

Is it really fair to punish someone for this level of minor fraud with seven years in state prison? Doesn’t that seem somewhat excessive, from a common sense standard? Obviously, you don’t want to reward workers’ comp fraud or encourage it in any way. But at least theoretically, it’s odd that someone who commits such a relatively minor crime (from a purely monetary standpoint) should be subjected to such a harsh potential jail sentence, especially when you consider that much more serious white collar crimes, like corporate fraud and embezzlement, often carry less punitive consequences.

On the other hand, North Carolina workers’ compensation fraud is a profound problem, not just in terms of the money it leeches from the system but also in terms of the culture of distrust it creates. When insurers can’t trust whether claimants are telling the truth, they ratchet up investigations and force legitimately hurt workers to jump through more hoops. When stories like Schwebke’s break, employers become more suspicious of their workers. It’s hard to quantify how all this distrust percolates through the system, but the toxic atmosphere surely drains time, resources, and money and makes it more difficult for the system to function effectively – that is, to rehabilitate legitimately hurt workers and get North Carolina’s workforce up and running at maximum effectiveness.

Have you been having trouble collecting your benefits due to your employer’s lack of cooperation or an insurance company’s recalcitrance? Whatever your issues, you may benefit greatly from engaging in an free confidential consultation with a reliable North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm today.

More Web Resources:

Kevin Schwebke’s arrest

Corrections officer accused of fraudulently accepting $34,000 in workers comp

Most North Carolina workers’ compensation policy analysts focus on “after the fact” remedies for workplace injuries and diseases. In other words, they focus on how to get injured workers paid for things like back surgery, time off of work, and finger amputations. They also look at how insurance companies can provide better service at more affordable rates and how employers can cut through red tape to give their employees the protection they need without compromising the business’s finances or other objectives.

But what’s missing in this discussion, overall, is frank and specific talk about preventing injuries and diseases. As the old adage goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This cliché is common advice that’s unfortunately uncommonly practiced. Rather than focus so much on solving problems once they have already occurred, we in the North Carolina workers’ compensation system should collectively focus our energies more on attacking the root causes of workplace injures with the goal of ultimately making workplaces from the Research Triangle to the far west of the state safer for all employees.

To that end, we need to recognize dangers that often go unremarked upon – and try to figure out how to deal with these pernicious hazards.

1. Too much sugar in the workplace

Whether you work as an high powered banking executive in the Research Triangle, or you supervise a construction crew in a rural part of far western North Carolina, chances are you encounter sweets many times during your day. There might be a vending machine in your office lobby that sells extremely sugary drinks. Your secretary may keep a bowl of delicious candy on his desk. Or, if you work at a large office, you may be asked to partake in weekly or even biweekly birthday parties for your office mates, during which you’ll be fed cupcakes, ice cream, and other goodies.

The problem is that all of this sugar is extremely bad for people – bad for workers, bad for the cardiovascular system, and bad for our collective health. Furthermore, eating too much sugar can make you feel lethargic, less attentive, lightheaded, and more. Excessive sugar consumption can also lead to problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and perhaps even cancer. If North Carolina workers and employers could focus on reducing their collective sugar consumption, this would almost certainly lead to reductions in things like workplace accidents, sick days, and occupational diseases (sugar also compromises the immune system).

2. Too much informational input

Whether you are an office worker bombarded by dozens of emails everyday; or you are a construction foreman snowed under by frustrating paperwork, chances are that you get more information than you can comfortably process. Studies suggest that this overconsumption of information can be hazardous: it can lead to inattention at the workplace, general fatigue, and even depression and anxiety.

3. Not enough sunlight

Medical studies suggest that most people could benefit from getting regular sun exposure to boost levels of Vitamin D and stimulate the immune system. Unfortunately, many North Carolina workers don’t get enough sun exposure – they are trapped in office buildings all day – and this lack of natural sunlight could impair mood, cause fatigue, and lead to inattention that could further stimulate on-the-job injuries and other problems. Perhaps employers could institute a 20-30 minute break per day – kind of like a “recess” – during which workers would be encouraged to go outside and recharge.

4. Bad Ergonomics

Whether you sit in a chair for 8 hours a day, spend 8 hours doing repetitive tooling and machining work, or engage in some other repetitive or physically uncomfortable activity, you could be setting yourself up for long-term work-related injuries. Working at a computer, for instance, can create all sorts of problems from eye strain to thoracic outlet syndrome to lower back problems. Remedies could include taking regular breaks, getting better and more ergonomic office equipment, using programs like Feldenkrais or the Alexander Technique, engaging in strength training, and changing up your work tasks so that they are not as repetitive.

If you or someone close to you needs guidance with a workers’ comp issue, connect with a quality and experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation firm to go over your options and ensure that you get all benefits owed to you.

More Web Resources:

Sunlight and Vitamin D research

Good v. Bad Ergonomics

Analysts often get mired in the details of internal state policy, spending time reviewing in-state cases and poring over announcements from individuals like Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner to understand factors shaping the North Carolina workers’ compensation system.

But sometimes it’s instructive to attend to the trials and tribulation of other state’s workers’ comp programs. To wit, a November 23 report out of Austin, Texas highlights a slew of nagging problems with that state’s Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC). The report identified four serious problems that “significantly inhibit” the DWC’s ability to offer benefits and care for workers hurt on the job. The points get technical and dry, but they are worth quickly reviewing:

1. The Texas DWC allegedly does not process complaints about medical practitioners well, so system auditors cannot evaluate the consistency and appropriateness of any disciplinary actions.
2. The complaint process the DWC uses fails to comply with the Texas Labor Code.
3. The way healthcare providers get chosen creates major inefficiencies and results in the “overutilization” of healthcare.
4. DWC also has problems in engaging in sanctions and enforcing its decisions.

Texas professionals plan to meet on December 14 in Austin to discuss how to rehabilitate the Division of Workers’ Compensation. But the ongoing struggles in the Lonestar State should alert analysts and policymakers who focus on North Carolina workers’ compensation to the sheer size and scope of some of the crises we face.

One major theme that emerges here is the idea that failure to process information effectively can have serious systemic consequences. State bureaucracies are not exactly known for being efficient. But lack of a structured set of processes and systems gums-up the whole system. It forces people to engage in extra paperwork. It drains resources from already resource-strapped and time-strapped individuals.

New developments in information processing theory may be useful. For instance — and this may sound silly at first — but imagine if everyone in the system adopted the “K.I.S.S. principle” (keep it simple, stupid) when developing their systems and procedures. A return to simplicity could make regulations and restrictions clearer, allow employers and hurt workers to make better decisions and foster a more genial overall spirit.

Stepping back from these global and philosophical implications…

If you’ve recently been put out of work by an injury or occupational disease, or if your family has been struggling to collect benefits from an insurance carrier, you are probably less concerned with what’s going on in Texas and much more concerned with questions like: “How am I going to feed my family if my benefits run out?” and “What can I do to heal faster so I can get back to work?”

To tackle all your concerns, you may benefit greatly from a free consultation with a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

More Web Resources

Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC)

Texas’ workers comp agency’s oversight faulted: Auditor

Whether you are a freshly injured worker who’s had to go on North Carolina workers’ compensation due to a computer typing injury or construction injury; or you are a healthy worker who wants to avoid on the job accidents or diseases, you may benefit from the following tips about how to stay safe over this holiday season. As joyous as the December holidays can be, problems at office Christmas parties, schedule changes, and icy winter weather can all make your work more treacherous than it is typically. Let’s analyze these issues.

1. Winter weather

Although North Carolina does not often get blitzed by blizzards, inclement winter weather, such as cold spells, sleet, snow, slush and freezing rain, can make your job more hazardous. If you are a delivery worker, for instance, it’s easy to envision yourself getting lost on an icy North Carolina road, sliding off into an embankment, dislocating your shoulder, and having to go on workers’ comp for all of 2011. This is something you want to avoid. To that end, pay extra attention during the winter to weather conditions. Go to weather.com to look up your local forecast. And keep your co-workers informed of any upcoming storms or squalls as well.

2. Watch the alcohol

The Yuletide season is a time of much carousing. You’ve worked hard in 2010, and you deserve to engage in a little frivolity and fun. But clowning around at an office Christmas party can result in serious injuries to you or your co-workers, even if you don’t work in an environment that contains heavy machinery, toxic chemicals or fire hazards. Remember: alcohol and other intoxicants and work do not mix. So if you are organizing or participating in a holiday party, rigorously adhere to safety standards. Obviously, you don’t want to be a “stick in the mud,” but neither do you want to spend the bulk of 2011 out of work at home in a back brace and on North Carolina workers’ compensation.

3. Beware of schedule changes

This is a tricky one. During December, work hours shift suddenly and become irregular. Obviously, many people take off the Christmas holiday. Others take off Hanukkah. Still others take off extended vacations to visit family out of state. This means that your shift lengths may change, and there may be a more lax and casual atmosphere at the office or work site as a result. Changes in schedule, substitutions, and shifts in your work environment can be a surprisingly terrifying cocktail. They can cause increased risk for accidents and injuries.

If you or a co-worker has experienced an injury or disease or other work-related health problem, protect your benefits by discussing your needs with a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm ASAP. The faster you get good advice, the easier it will be for you to move forward with your life and enjoy a healthy and prosperous 2011.

More Web Resources

To Drink or Not To Drink?

Alcohol Abuse at Work

Steve Poizner, the outgoing Insurance Commissioner for the CA Department of Insurance, has slapped down a request to hike Califonia workers’ compensation rates up by 27.7% for 2011, a move that has North Carolina workers’ compensation analysts talking. The insurance industry, represented most vocally by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau, is not exactly singing Poizner’s praises. Last year, the group asked for a 30% rate hike, but the Department of Insurance denied the hike. They claim that, since 2008, actual premiums have only increased by 3% – due perhaps to competition and employer adaptations.

The state compensation fund will hike up its rate by 5.2% starting first of the New Year – similar to the premium increase the fund adopted in 2010.

Poizner has been at loggerheads with insurers in the past. In 2009, he spelled out more than two dozen efficiencies that insurers could avail themselves of to cut costs. He struck a disappointed tone in a recent statement: “workers’ compensation insurers have failed to demonstrate that they have adopted procedures to control costs so that they are operating efficiently.”

Poizner aims to push through several reforms to improve the review process to make everything. Those in the North Carolina workers’ compensation system are paying attention. His proposed reforms include:

1. Come up with advisory premiums based on the real rates that insurers file as opposed to theoretical benchmarks.

2. Include clear tables to help employers classify their workers, so that they can understand how rate changes will impact their businesses.

3. Use better data monitoring and filing techniques to help consumers understand how insurance pricing actually works and to avoid getting lost in the details, which can often get quite byzantine (i.e. complicated), even for professionals in the field.

If you or someone you care about has been struggling with a benefits issue – maybe an insurance company has stalled on approving a claim; or maybe your employer claims you got hurt at a previous job and not at your current one – avail yourself of the resources of a quality North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm.

Don’t fight a complicated, technical legal battle on your own. Even if you school yourself on all applicable rules and regulations, you could still make small errors which could have catastrophic consequences for your benefits, and, more broadly, for your ability to return to full health and productivity.

If the U.S. Postal Service defaults, what will happen to North Carolina workers’ compensation for postal workers? According to an August 29 article in Reuters, USPS might default on an enormous $1.2 billion payment in 2012, putting postal employees who rely on North Carolina workers’ compensation at risk of a possible loss of benefits. Reuters summarized the sobering news as follows: “The mail carrier, which has been losing billions of dollars each year, has more than 560,000 full-time employees, the largest pool of workers covered by the Federal Employees Compensation Act.”

It may not be time to panic just yet. The Postal Service should have no problem paying these benefits at least through the first three quarters of 2012. But starting in the last four months of fiscal year 2012, more than 2 million federal employees and USPS employees could be impacted.

Fortunately, the Postal Services is not sitting idle. In June, USPS suspended paying into a retirement fund to save approximately $900 million to pay down the workers’ compensation bill due. The agency is dealing with a two-fold problem – a sharp cut in the volume of mail due to electronic communications coupled with “skyrocketing employee costs.” The USPS has begged Congress to overhaul aspects of its business model and also offer some relief from upcoming payments. But the bruising fight over the deficit and debt ceiling may make it difficult for the USPS to get any significant reforms on the floor. Moreover, “the Labor Department said…that there is no penalty if the Postal Service skips the workers’ compensation payment.”

This is all pretty scary news, even if your North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits are in no way tied to the Postal Service or to any kind of federal program. The reason that it’s scary is because it implies that workers’ comp funds may be more brittle and less sacrosanct than hurt and sick workers would like them to be. In other words, we depend on workers’ comp as a kind of crutch to help us get back on our feet. But if/when that crutch gives out – due to poor fund management or some other deep structural flaw in the fund’s business model – then individual beneficiaries could suffer a hard landing.

There are so many aspects of the workers’ compensation system that are way out of your control – the USPS crisis is just one of tens of thousands – so it is important to concentrate on what you can control. Similarly, you want to avoid getting caught up in thinking and worrying about worst-case scenarios and, instead, focus on what you want to occur and what resources you need to achieve your financial goals. To that end, you might find it useful to talk to a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm about what steps you should (or should not) take to ensure the best outcome for your situation.

More Web Resources:

U.S. Postal Service default?

Federal Employees Compensation Act

The business of reforming North Carolina workers’ compensation – or any other state system – is a complicated and fraught one.

To wit, a monumental brouhaha is brewing in Seattle, Washington over a reform program championed by WA businesses. Theoretically, the reforms could save the Washington workers’ comp system upwards of $1.2 billion, including a one-time net savings of $730 million. Different entities within the Washington government have proposed wildly different estimates of the savings that the business backed plan would generate. Labor groups are vociferously protesting; they have put forward a different plan that may save the system approximately $450 million over the next several years.

According to the Seattle Times, WA governor Chris Gregoire is treading carefully, aiming to split the different between these two plans. The state’s Office of Financial Management believes that one quarter of all injury claims in WA (approximately 7,000 cases) will end up at settlement. The Chair of Washington state’s House Labor Committee, representative Mike Cells, doesn’t plan to give the bill a hearing, stalling its advance.

What bearing does this tug of war over Washington state’s potentially insolvent workers’ comp system have on the North Carolina workers’ compensation system?

Practically speaking, not a lot!

But although Washington is located literally thousands of miles away from North Carolina, it’s a mistake to underestimate the influence that out of state battles over benefits and entitlements can have on the timbre of debate here in NC. As we’ve explored in other posts, states around the union are desperate to get workers’ comp costs under control. (Witness the recent very public battles in both Illinois and California over similar issues.) As the national economy continues to stall and unemployment rates remain stubbornly high, political figures will look at entitlement programs like unemployment and workers’ comp to identify places to cut.

The problem is that indiscriminate, non-strategically optimized cutting may not necessarily save states. Slashing may also create longer term headaches — not just for hurt and injured workers, but also for the states’ fiscal health. Imagine, for instance, if the North Carolina General Assembly passed a draconian measure to chip away at workers’ comp. Say, for instance, the benefits period maxed out at 250 weeks. What might happen to all those hurt and sick workers? Where will they get money to support their families and to pay for rehab and medical bills? It’s not like these people will just disappear.

Obviously, there is no quick solution to these problems. And if you are personally struggling with an employer or insurance company, a consultation with a North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm can be crucial to making sure that you’re treated fairly and justly — and that you have the information you need to get your health back on track.

More Web Resources:

Can the Washington workers’ comp system be saved?

North Carolina General Assembly plan to reform NC workers’ comp

Analysts in the North Carolina workers’ compensation and unemployment benefits community are anxiously awaiting November 30th. On that day, the U.S. Congress is set to either potentially extend federal funds for unemployment benefits… or not.

If Congress fails to extend the federal funds, states like North Carolina would have to make up the difference. In North Carolina, according to experts in the Employment Security Commission, this would mean that the 300,000+ residents who collect unemployment would have to turn to the state for help. North Carolina collected $2.35 billion from the federal government this year to support the state’s unemployment fund. Over the past 12 months, $5.4 billion in state and federal benefits have been paid out to NC residents.

In a healthy economy, unemployment compensation extends for 26 weeks. Fueled by fears over economic crises, however, legislators opted to extend the benefits period to 99 weeks temporarily. Progressive advocates, like Alexander Sirota of the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center, worry that a federal cut off of funds could spell trouble for the regional economy.

When individuals lose access to North Carolina workers’ compensation or unemployment benefits, they suddenly don’t have money to reinvest in local economies. This cash flow shortage theoretically could precipitate broader economic problems.

Furthering complicating matters… the state remains mired in dire economic straits. October statistics showed NC unemployment hovering just under 10%. NC has already weathered several months of double-digit unemployment since the start of the “Great Recession.”

Are you or a family member struggling with how to make ends meet during these tough times? If so, you may need help meeting your challenges head-on. For instance, perhaps you are juggling multiple issues at once. Maybe an insurance company has challenged the validity of your injury claim. Or maybe an employer has suddenly refused to pay out your full benefit amount, citing internal financial difficulties.

To compel the system to work fairly for you, consult with an experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation firm. A strong legal strategy can ensure that you maximize your benefits and prime yourself to take best advantage of any new job opportunities that present themselves to you.

More Web Resources:

North Carolina Budget and Tax Center

More about the Federal Funding Debate

While most North Carolina workers’ compensation analysts probe the local news for instructive stories, sometimes blogs look to international sources to find the most compelling news. And a case out of Toronto – reported by the Vancouver Sun – has many in the North Carolina workers’ compensation community talking. An Alberta tribunal has ordered workers’ comp payments for a convenient store worker who suffered serious shoulder injuries from scooping hard ice cream. According to the Sun’s report, the woman had to serve up an enormous quantity of orders in a short period of time during a heat spell in April 2009. The Appeal Board noted that “the activity required considerable force with her right hand and arm in a twisting motion because the ice cream was frozen hard…the total sale of ice cream cones [for a 2 day period] was $1,500.”

The woman had been treated for a shoulder injury prior to working at the ice cream store and had rectified that injury through the use of cortisone shots. But the ice cream scooping reinjured her shoulder so badly that she needed surgery on her rotator cuff to deal with the flare up. The Sun’s article quoted an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Stephen Reed, who argued that ice cream scooping is indeed a dangerous activity. Dr. Reed said “they are forced to do this basically at arm’s length, reaching into a large cabinet…it’s basically poor ergonomics, and they are doing it repetitively.”

Repetitive strain injuries due to manual labor, such as ice cream scooping, typing, or repetitive lifting, can cause lasting damage to muscles, fascia, ligaments, and other soft tissue. More frustratingly, the full extent of the damage may take weeks or months to reveal itself. By the time an injured employee notices what’s been happening, it may be too late to reverse the problems easily.

If you or someone you love or work with has been sidelined with a repetitive stress injury or other workplace injury, either chronic or acute, you can benefit tremendously from consulting with a qualified North Carolina workers’ compensation firm. By exploring your rights as a potential claimant, you can collect compensation for things like your lost wages and medical bills. Moreover, you can simplify the process, focus your limited resources on healing from your injuries and getting back to work (or finding new work), and holding reluctant employers or insurance companies fully accountable.

More Web Resources:

Scooping hard ice cream can be hazardous to your health

RSI resources

Last month, the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld a decision in the North Carolina workers’ compensation case of Cardwell v. Jenkins Cleaner, Inc. The claimant slipped and fell on a stretch of black ice in the parking lot adjacent to her workplace (Jenkins Cleaner) and broke her wrist. She argued that, since she fell near the back door of her workplace, she should get workers’ comp. But the North Carolina Court of Appeals said that her broken wrist was not compensable because the parking lot in which she fell was not owned by her employer. In fact, her employer shared that lot with several other businesses. One judge dissented, saying that, since the entrance door to the cleaner’s was “in such proximity in relation” to the parking lot, the area where she slipped was “in practical effect on the employer’s premises.”

In general, a worker who gets hurt while on an employer’s property can get North Carolina workers’ compensation benefits. But as this case illustrates, subtle nuances and complexities can make the process complicated, if not impossible, for claimants.

Many potential claimants don’t understand their rights and/or don’t seek legal benefits in situations where a claim might be justified. For instance, a pizza delivery worker who gets hurt while driving to a delivery can get workers’ comp from his employer, even if the driver was far away from the restaurant when the traffic accident occurred. Many cases hinge on minor, seemingly irrelevant details. In this case, for instance, at issue was whether Cardwell’s fall happened on the employer’s premises or on a property that the employer did not control. Since she slipped in sort of a “grey zone,” the Court of Appeals ended up delivering a divided decision.

All this is to say that, if you or someone you care about has been dealing with a complicated claims issue, you should avail yourself of the most potent resources to defend your benefits. An experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation firm can provide a free case evaluation and advise you about the most efficient and practical steps to take to guarantee your claim and eliminate resistance from uncooperative employers or bad faith insurers.

More Web Resources:

Cardwell v. Jenkins Cleaner, Inc

Summary of Cardwell v. Jenkins Cleaner