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Important Information about Your Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Posted in Workers' Compensation.

Insurance companies don’t want you to know that they can stop your benefits if you need surgery. Even if you have a relatively minor injury and don’t require much medical treatment or time off work, they may initially pay you. However, once you are referred to surgery, they will seek ways to deny your workers’ compensation claim.

If you’ve experienced a more serious injury, requiring surgery or resulting in a permanent disability that prevents you from working, and you’re currently receiving workers’ compensation benefits, it’s crucial to keep reading.

In every case involving a serious injury, the workers’ compensation insurance company will try to limit, deny, or harm you. They can halt your benefits and medical treatment without any obligation to inform you. They simply file a form. What’s worse is that you might unknowingly provide them with a reason to terminate your benefits. After all, you’re not an expert in D.C. workers’ compensation law and the extensive regulations (which consist of 58 chapters in addition to the statute itself). You don’t have a team of adjusters, case managers, nurses, investigators, insurance lawyers, and doctors at your disposal. Unlike your adjuster, who likely has extensive experience handling thousands of D.C. workers’ compensation cases for the insurance company.

Here are just a few examples of how individuals with valid work-related injuries, who are receiving benefits, can harm their case:

  • Trying to please the insurance company by visiting the doctor they recommend, who they claim is an “approved” doctor, on their panel, or within their network. After six months, this doctor may declare that you’re fine and able to return to work or that your injury was likely a pre-existing degenerative condition. It’s important to note that there is no such thing as an “approved” doctor, panel, or network. Moreover, if the doctor primarily treats patients from workers’ compensation insurance companies, whose interests do you think they prioritize?
  • Continuing to attend “independent” medical exams arranged by the insurance company without being aware of the limitations on the frequency of these exams. Can you truly trust their independence when the insurance company is selectively seeking out doctors?
  • Failing to exercise caution on social media platforms, as the insurance company thoroughly scrutinizes your online presence. Anything you or someone else posts can be misinterpreted and used against you.
  • Having the insurance company’s investigators monitor your activities outside your home for a two-week period and capturing a brief video of you carrying groceries. Are you equipped with the knowledge and strategies to challenge this type of surveillance?
  • Having a nurse from the insurance company attend your appointments. While you may not appreciate their presence, they assert that it is necessary, or your doctor believes so. Even if the nurse doesn’t join you during the examination, they meet privately with your doctor afterward. Their main responsibility is to influence your doctor into sending you back to work prematurely (oftentimes by omitting crucial physical aspects of your job) and limiting your medical treatment. How can you effectively handle this situation?

Remember, the smartest decision you can make for yourself and your family is to secure the best lawyer available for your workers’ compensation case. With our expertise, we can prevent or minimize the damage the insurance company attempts to inflict. They understand that many of their tactics won’t succeed when we’re involved because we won’t allow it. Our goal is to prevent the mistakes that could jeopardize your case before it’s too late.

Unfortunately, we’ve had to turn away individuals who could have benefited from our assistance if they had approached us six months earlier. By allowing the insurance company to take advantage of them, they find themselves in a worse financial and emotional situation. The most disheartening part is that they were completely unaware of being exploited. How could they have known?

Don’t let this happen to you

Contact us today at 202-393-3320 or email us at info@dkllp.com to schedule a consultation. Our dedicated team of experienced workers’ compensation lawyers at Donahoe Kearney Law Firm is ready to fight for your rights and ensure you receive the benefits and compensation you deserve. We’ll handle the complexities of your case, so you can focus on your recovery and well-being. Let us be your trusted advocate in the face of insurance company tactics.