medical care

Published on: January 16, 2023

Three Workers’ Compensation Trends That Harm Workers And Cost Communities

Several months ago, a Department of Labor (DOL) official published an article on the agency’s website discussing three troubling trends with workers’ compensation benefits. You can read that article at Trends In Workers’ Comp. These trends are certainly true in Alabama. I’ll discuss each of these harmful trends below:

1. The Number Of Workers Covered By Workers Compensation Has Decreased

We need to remember the purposes of workers’ compensation. Our work comp systems were originally implemented to provide a couple basic benefits — Medical care and a basic disability benefit. These are essential benefits for injured workers.

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Published on: October 3, 2022

Recent Alabama Case Highlights Need For Court Approval Of Alabama Workers’ Compensation Settlements

By Jeff Blackwell

Injured workers often ask, “Why do I have to go to court if my case settled?” It’s a good question. The quick answer is that court approval of Alabama work comp settlements is meant to protect injured workers.

Let me give a little background. Alabama workers compensation benefits are limited. I think they are unfair for injured workers. Too many injured workers suffer needless hurdles and delays obtaining basic medical treatment. On top of that, disability benefits are often limited in both time and amount. The Alabama Legislature capped permanent partial benefits decades ago. Since then, the Legislature has ignored increases in the cost-of-living, leaving Alabama families with an injured breadwinner existing at the poverty level.

Our entire work comp system is unfair to workers. I’ve written multiple articles on this. Because the system is unfair, it’s even more important for seriously injured workers to obtain skilled legal counsel and fight for ALL available benefits. And, it becomes even more important for injured workers (with or without a lawyer) to have a safety system where a court can insure the insurance company is not taking advantage of them.

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Published on: November 22, 2021

Work Comp Insurers Paint Misleading Picture Of Medical Costs!

By Jeff Blackwell

Generally, workers compensation provides two important benefits. The first is medical care. The second is money you receive for your impairments or disabilities. These are essential benefits for working men and women facing a serious work-related personal injury. I’ve helped injured workers for more than 25 years. Almost every single client has the same worry — How quickly can I get my medical care and resume my normal life. Medical care and recovery are the main concerns. Most injured workers start the process hopeful.

Too often, insurance carriers then ignore, delay or deny their need for medical treatment. If you’ve suffered a serious work-related injury, you may have experienced the frustration of waiting on a work comp adjuster to call or approve care. You may have experienced the tricks used by insurance carriers to avoid providing necessary treatment. I understand. You do have options.

Let me get to the point of this post. Recently, I read an article about a misleading study produced by the National Council On Compensation Insurance (NCCI). What is the NCCI? Take a look at its Board of Directors! It’s a virtual who’s who of the biggest work comp insurance executives. You think they might be biased just a little! Years ago, the tobacco industry had similar groups telling consumers that smoking was healthy!

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Published on: October 11, 2021

Should I Let A Lawyer Send Me To “His” Chiropractor Or Doctor?

By Jeff Blackwell

Do you have a referral arrangement with a specific chiropractor or doctor? It’s a question some callers ask. The answer is, NO. If you suffered a serious car accident injury, the worst thing you can do is hire a lawyer who has a secret referral relationship with a specific chiropractor or doctor. In a recent video, Virginia lawyer Ben Glass says these secret relationships are “the kiss of death for your case.”

We’ve all heard the television commercials! We’ve all seen the billboards! Please call, the lawyer begs. These are settlement mill lawyers. They are operating an assembly line process. Sign the client. Refer the client to a special chiropractor. Inflate the medical charges. Make a settlement demand on the insurance company. Take what you can get. (Take what “little” you can get.). That assembly line process fails clients who are truly injured. It benefits only the lawyer and his chosen clinic. That’s wrong.

The settlement mill lawyers all over television and billboards do not want you to know the truth. They are running a sham that hurts already injured people a second time.

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Published on: July 26, 2021

Walmart — How One Company Treats (Mistreats) Injured Employees

By Jeff Blackwell

I just read an interesting article titled:

The Walmart Stocker Who Quit And Told Off Her Bosses Over The Intercom

The article was published late last year. How did I miss it? Apparently, the Walmart employee reached the breaking point and quit over the store-wide intercom. That’s right — The employee quit over the intercom, telling everyone in the store exactly how she felt. Like the old Johnny Paycheck song, it was a real “take this job and shove it” moment.

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Published on: August 24, 2020

How Settlement Mill Lawyers Harm Car Accident Victims: Secret Deals With Chiropractors

By Jeff Blackwell

If you’ve read my prior articles, you know my opinion — Billboard lawyers often harm their personal injury clients. As lawyers, our job is to help our clients. We should put first our clients’ interests. Yet, many billboard lawyers help themselves at their clients’ expense.

How do settlement mill lawyers smiling from billboards harm their personal injury clients? Over the coming weeks, I’m going to write posts discussing several ways these advertising lawyers often harm their injured clients. Today, I’ll talk about the sweetheart arrangements many of these settlement mill lawyers have with a specific chiropractor to profit from your injuries.

Here’s how the sweetheart deal between the billboard lawyer and a specific chiropractor works. You suffer a car accident injury and call the billboard lawyer. You probably don’t meet with the actual billboard lawyer. That’s a different issue we’ll discuss in a later post. You probably meet with an “investigator,” “runner” or other staff member. Once you sign the contract, the billboard lawyer wants you to see a specific chiropractor. His chiropractor. That chiropractor will then run-up the charges for your visits. The billboard lawyer will use these exorbitant charges to try and negotiate a deal with the insurance company to settle your claim. It’s an assembly line process designed so the billboard lawyer spends as little time as possible working on your file. That billboard lawyer simply wants to make a few phone calls. And, in many volume law firms, a staff member is actually making the calls. You get zero service from the lawyer.

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Published on: June 23, 2014

The Alabama Court Of Civil Appeals Addresses Attendant Care For Injured Workers

By Jeff Blackwell

Sometimes, our Court of Civil Appeals issues a decision that creates a little “buzz.” This is what happened last week when the Court released the workers’ compensation decision in Alabama Forestry Products v. Harris. Usually, I read the decisions when released (or at least over the weekend after the release). This time I did not. I was busy briefing an expert witness issue. So, the phone call Monday morning from Work Comp Central asking my thoughts on Friday’s decision came as a surprise.

What’s the big deal with this case? It’s a big deal because the decision protects the right to medical treatment under Alabama’s Workers’ Compensation Act. And, it applies to working families.

I’ve written numerous articles about the impact of severe personal injuries on entire families. Entire families are altered as they adapt their lives to care for the hurt member. In many of our past cases, a spouse or parent had to quit their own job to care for a disabled loved one. So, how does this case protect medical benefits and promote families?

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