A Workers’ Late Notice of the Employer’s Uninsured Status Limits Both Medical and Wage Loss Benefits
In a recent Commonwealth Court Case, the Court held that if an injured worker fails to notify the Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund (Fund) within 45 days after the injured worker knows that the employer does not have workers’ compensation insurance, the Fund is NOT obligated to provide “compensation” from the date of the injury, but Read More
Who Decides if a Doctor is Lying?
Recently, Abes Baumann argued a case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court regarding credibility determinations for physicians who perform Impairment Rating Evaluations. In the case of Rhodes vs.WCAB, Tom Baumann argued that the Workers’ Compensation Judge was correct in refusing to convert the claimant’s disability benefits from total disability to partial disability. Under the Worker’s Compensation Read More
Impairment Rating Evaluations (Will Supreme Court Rule on their Fairness)
As noted in my last blog entry, many injured workers in Pennsylvania receiving Worker’s Compensation benefits are obligated to undergo an impairment rating evaluation after they have received 104 weeks of total disability benefits. When the Pennsylvania state legislature passed the changes to the Worker’s Compensation act (in 1996), it required such evaluations to be done Read More
Impairment Rating Evaluations (Insurance Company Cutting Your Benefits)
Even if you win your case, Workers’ Compensation Benefits are not a lifetime guarantee. The insurance company may try to limit your benefits with the Impairment Rating Evaluation (IRE). An IRE is a physical examination. A doctor determines your level of disability on a scale from 0 to 100. After receiving 104 weeks of benefits, Read More
Abes Baumann Attorney Argues to Commonwealth Court
Recently, the law firm of Abes Baumann participated in an en banc argument before the Commonwealth Court involving a challenge to the constitutionality of a portion of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. In the case of Protz vs. WCAB, Tom Baumann argued that the use of the American Medical Association Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Read More
Independent Medical Examinations
Many recipients of Workers’ Compensation benefits will be required to submit from time to time to a so-called Independent Medical Examination with a physician selected by the Employer/Insurance Carrier. Injured workers should understand that the examinations are in no way independent. Many of the regular providers of these examinations are paid hundreds of thousands of Read More
Workers’ Compensation and Pension Benefits
If you receive both workers’ compensation benefits and pension benefits, it’s likely that your employer began reducing your compensation benefits when you started receiving pension benefits. If so, it’s entirely possible that your employer has been taking MORE of a credit than it is entitled to take under the law. The Workers’ Compensation Act allows Read More
Pennsylvania Supreme Court: “A job must be open and available to count in a Labor Market Survey.”
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has recently issued a ruling that will help injured workers who are faced with labor market surveys by a vocational expert hired by the workers compensation carrier. In Phoenixville Hosp. v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd., 81 A.3d 830 (Pa. 2013), the court concluded that a job must be actually open and Read More