Ty Wilson Law Podcast

If you've been injured on the job, you need to know that the mileage rate is recently gone up. And so, now after July 1st of 2023 the mileage rate has gone from $0.40 cents to $0.45 cents. So, what does that mean? That means for every visit where you drive from your home to the doctor from your home to the physical therapist from your home to the pharmacy and back of course you're a total of $0.45 USD a mile. So, you've been kind of given a raise. That said, if you're calculating a mileage sheet you wanna make sure that everything before that July 1st, 2023 date is that $0.40 cents a mile. The adjusters will be looking. And so, you wanna provide them a list. Remember if you're doing mileage, you wanna make sure to get it to the insurance adjuster within one year of the time when you accrude that mileage or we're actually driving. Otherwise, they can deny it. Stay safe! 

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The key to getting your medical care approved quicker faster and not an unreasonable delay. Which is kind of the name of the game when you're injured on the job, is when you see a doctor, if they order physical therapy, MRI EMG, nerve conduction study anything. Xray. Anything they tell you. Anything outside the office. "We're gonna order you this." "We're gonna prescribe you this." Well, they need to write a prescription for it. And so, when they tell you that as you're leaving, you need to say, "Hey!" "I need to get a copy of the script." "I need to get a copy of my work status report." And if they say, "Don't worry about the script." "We'll send that to the insurance company." Well, the fact of the matter is you don't know when that insurance company gets it, and they will delay and delay and delay. So, it's better if you get it send it to the adjuster. Maybe FAX so you get confirmation. And then you can say, "Well," "I know I sent it to you." "You should have it on your desk." Stay safe! 

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Getting orders. We've talked about this in another video. So, if you've been injured on the job, and your doctor says, "You know what?" "This injury… "I think we need to get an MRI again." You wanna ask for the script. And what I mean by that is they will write a script out or the doctor will give you something in writing. And that's the key. Something in writing that says they're ordering this diagnostic test whether it be an MRI, X-ray, what have you. And then, you wanna take that document. and you wanna FAX it to your adjuster. And make sure that they have received it where you get a FAX confirmation. If you email it, you don't get a FAX confirmation, or you don't get an email confirmation. And so, you wanna make sure that they received it. And then, you wanna follow up with them.  And if they haven't done anything on this in about five days, well now you know. They're playing the delay game. You wanna be careful. You may wanna talk to an attorney. Stay safe! 

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If you've been injured on the job, you likely will need medical care. And if the medical care stops at an urgent care clinic, okay. Well, that's great. Your injury has been sufficiently taken care of as long as you believe it has been. However, if it's more serious a lot of times, if you're at an urgent care clinic, they refer you to a specialist. Or if you're going to go to a specialist,  you may wanna do some research on the doctors. Not all doctors are equal. And several doctors have reputations.  Some better than others.So, you want to do the research to make sure that you're not locking yourself in with a doctor who has reputation. Or basically saying, "Your full duty." "This was all pre existing."  "This is all in your head." or whatever.  Making you feel inadequate as a person. So, you wanna do your best to research ahead of time. Stay safe! 

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A defense medical examination. This is where the employer insure have paid a doctor to see you for a one time visit. They're seeking an opinion. They may be seeking a second opinion on your doctor saying if you need surgery. There's all kinds of reasons they can do that. But, can a schedule one that is five hours away? We had that happen recently.  We had someone out. Out in the Savannah area. And all of a sudden, we get a notice for an independent medical evaluation in Atlanta. Well, the first thing I did is, I called up the adjuster and said, "Not sure if this is what you wanna do." "The mileage is going to be atrocious." "However, my client has a lower back injury,  and cannot sit in the car for 5 hours. 'Perhaps you can find another doctor," "who is closer to us here in Savannah, that she can go to." Ultimately, that's what they did. So, question what they're doing. And you may or may not get something that doesn't put the burden upon your injury and your body part. Stay safe! 

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So, how to not handle the job search? If you've been injured on the job you're released to light duty and the employer cannot accommodate your light duty work. So, now you have to look for a job or perform a diligent job search. And so, one of the things we hear all the time is, "Yep!" "I looked for work." "I couldn't find anything." So, well that's fine. And then the next thing we know, opposing councils pulling them into a hearing. Trying to cut their benefits off. They're like, "When you approach that employer, how did you approach them to work." And the injured worker said, "Well, I told him I was hurt." "Did they have a job so that I can work?" "I'm on workers comp." And they said, "No". "That's not a diligent job search." "That's not a good faith effort." "You gotta make a good faith effort." So, you've got to find out about the job. You got to find out if it's something you can do and then apply for that type of work. But don't tell the employer that soon to be employer, "I'm hurt." "Do you have a job for me?" That won't work. Stay safe! 

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So, what happens if you're injured on the job in Georgia, and you get your health insurance provided through your employer? Well, if you're out of work completely you're no longer collecting a paycheck from your employer. You are receiving income benefits from the workers compensation insurance carrier. Why is that important? That's important because when you're working with your employer, your employer is taking your pay out of your check, and paying for the health insurance coverage. So, there is a possibility that you may have to come out of pocket if you're on workers compensation to keep your health insurance, and pay. Some employers will not even allow that to happen. Some of them will just send you the Cobra paperwork and say, "Hey!" "Sorry we can no longer ensure you." "We're not gonna pay for this out of our own pocket." So, you wanna reach out to HR really quickly if that's a concern. Stay safe!

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If you've been hurt on the job, and you've been released to light duty.  And your employer does not have work for you. Remember you have a obligation to do a diligent job search. So, what does that mean? That means that you should look for gainful employment within your work restrictions based upon what that doctor's saying. And so, when you go to an employer and ask them for work the first thing you should do is you should fill out the application. If that's what they allow you to do. But find out what the lifting restrictions are if you have a lifting restriction or what the duties are for that particular job. If you're applying for heavy heavy construction work and you've got a back injury and you know that you're not gonna be able to do that type of work. There's an argument to be made that that is not a diligent job search. You need to look for jobs within your restrictions. Stay safe! 

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So, this is kind of a companion to the Defense Medical Evaluation video that I did just a minute ago. Where they requested that my client go five hours from Savannah to Atlanta for an 8:00 A.M. appointment on a Monday. And so, the question is, there are certain times when that may be the only type of doctor out here on the coast. We do not have a huge selection of certain types of doctors where as they do in Atlanta. So, there is a possibility that that could happen. If that happens, and as an engine worker you have to be there at 8 o'clock in the morning. It is highly doubtful that you could leave at 3 or 2 in the morning and drive there. So, you may be entitled to have hotel room paid for and possibly even some per diem for meals. It's not gonna be a high amount but the certainly will help offset the cost that you have to come out of pocket for a better visit. If that's the case. Stay safe! 

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We received a question the other day. "What are the benefits that you're possibly entitled to in a Georgia workers compensation claim?" And so, the really are two main benefits; They are medical benefits. That's medical care; prescription care; medical devices. If that's related in something that the doctor orders. And then, if you're taken out of work for more than seven days, there are income benefits. They're also called "weekly checks" "indemnity benefits" I mean they're called a bunch of different things. But, basically you get a weekly check in the mail. If you're taking out of work for more than seven days completely. If you put on light duty, and the employer cannot accommodate you. You may also qualify for that as well. Then the last benefit. At least that they look at if they're talking benefits that you might get in the future and settle are what are called permanent impairment. That's something that's figured out at the end. The doctor thinks you're at maximum medical improvement. They'll ask you to do an FCE or a Functional Capacity Evaluation. Get an impairment rating. And then, they'll pay you according to that. Stay safe! 

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