And if you are employed like Mr. Bozeman in this story–you have to pay for the medical care out of your pocket. Hopefully you have insurance and only have to pay a deductible and co-pay. But if your insurance doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions you are just out of luck.
Continue Reading Lifetime Medical Coverage is a Sham
What to Do If You Are Injured on the Job
Thousands of people are killed every year on the job, and multitudes of others suffer serious injuries. On-the-job injuries account for huge losses of time and productivity, but if you’re hurt at work, these concerns are secondary to your own. These injuries can prevent you from working, result in lost wages and even land you in bankruptcy thanks to high medical bills. Fortunately, there are workers compensation protections, and this is how you can become eligible.
…
Continue Reading What to Do If You Are Injured on the Job
Abuse of Drug Testing by Carrier Doctors
What we are seeing are doctors that are performing drug testing on injured workers as part of the examination. Then, if the drug test comes back positive, the doctor is using this positive finding as a basis for claiming some other problem is the cause of the injured worker’s complaints.
…
Continue Reading Abuse of Drug Testing by Carrier Doctors
Texas Fights over State-Created Firm, Texas Mutual Insurance Company
In 1991, Texas employers sought policy writers to create polices covering employees injured on the job. To fuel this need, the Texas legislature created the Texas Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fund, the largest writer of workers’ compensation insurance. In 2001, the state changed the fund’s name to Texas Mutual Insurance Company (TMIC) but maintained the same goal: to stabilize the state’s workers’ compensation system. Since its creation, TMIC has accomplished just that, consuming 40% of Texas’s workers’ compensation insurance market. Today, TMIC insures over 60,000 employers and their 1.4 million employees. Despite its success, TMIC recently announced its desire to cut ties with the state. The purpose of this blog is to explain some of the pros and cons associated with converting the state fund into a private company.
Continue Reading Texas Fights over State-Created Firm, Texas Mutual Insurance Company
TX DWC Announces September Workers’ Compensation Violations
On October 20, 2014, Texas’s Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) announced final disciplinary actions against insurance carriers, health care providers, and employers for violating the state’s workers’ compensation laws. Division of Workers’ Compensation Announces Recent Enforcement Action, Tex. Dep’t Ins. (Oct. 20, 2014), available at http://www.tdi.texas.gov/news/2014/dwc—10—20.html.
Since January 1, 2014, administrative penalties for these violations total $1,774,345, including $1,658,245 against insurance carriers, $65,600 against health care providers, and $1,000 against employers.Continue Reading TX DWC Announces September Workers’ Compensation Violations
Texas Injury Statistics by Race Go Uncollected
Access the NY Times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/us/injury-statistics-by-race-go-uncollected.html?_r=0
Workers’ Compensation: Are you Covered?
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
JA
X-NONE
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
Workers’ compensation is a state-regulated insurance program that pays medical expenses and lost wages of employees who are injured at work or suffer from work-related illnesses. Workers’ compensation cases are treated on a case-by-case basis, which means that employees are treated differently based on the nature and severity of their injuries.
In Texas, the agency responsible for regulating the state’s workers’ compensation system is the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). Within the TDI exists a smaller division, which carries the sole responsibility of processing and monitoring workers’ compensation claims, called the Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC).
The Presumption of Intoxication, continued.
Currently, the Division of Workers’ Compensation takes the position that the rebuttable presumption shifts the burden of proof in a workers compensation case…The Texas Supreme Court has made very clear that a rebuttable presumption does not shift the burden of proof.
…
Continue Reading The Presumption of Intoxication, continued.
Filing Suit Against the DWC
I haven’t been able to update my blog because I had been sent a cease and desist letter from the DWC informing me that I was in violation of Texas Labor Code Section 419.002(a) because I had used the words “Texas Workers’ Comp” in this blog’s URL.
Well, today I filed suit against the DWC in federal court. You can view my petition here:
…
Continue Reading Filing Suit Against the DWC
The Presumption of Intoxication
According to the Division of Workers Compensation, rebuttable presumption means that the burden of proof shifts to the claimant to prove that they are not intoxicated at the time of injury. This creates a significant hurdle for the injured worker.
…
Continue Reading The Presumption of Intoxication