Base Defense Act injury

[jayne]

your home is in Texas....is that the state your injury will fall under if so you may not like it...Texas has some strange WC rules.....undercoverangel would be able to answer you better on Texas

[UndercovrAngel]

Jayne,

Looks like it is being handled here in the great state of TX He mentioned TX in his first post and in another he mentioned Dallas.

Scoe,

If you are still receiving TIBs, then you have not been declared MMI as of yet. Has your treating Dr. in Dallas been able to connect all of your current injuries that you are being treated for to the accident over seas?? If he hasn't, then he needs to, or you will not be able to be compensated at the end of your claim for all of them.

Is the surgeon the only Dr that you are seeing at this time?? Most of the time, you have a treating Dr that refers you out to other Dr's for surgery, PT, second opinions etc. But he remains in control of your care throughout your claim.

Until you are totally finished with your claim...meaning all PT and any other treatment that is necessary to get you to MMI and are sent for a IRE, no one can tell you, or even begin to guess what your claim might be worth monetarily. More than likely, your injuries will be rated and then added together to come up with an "as a whole body" percentage and your monies will be based on that percent.

However, once you are found to be MMI and you start to receive IIB's, that doesn't mean you are done. In the state of TX, medical care for your injury is for life as no other insurance will touch a work comp injury. Texas is one of a few states that automatically do this at the end of a claim.

Angel ^j^

[scoe!]

(03-27-2012 07:09 PM)UndercovrAngel Wrote:  Jayne,

Looks like it is being handled here in the great state of TX He mentioned TX in his first post and in another he mentioned Dallas.

Scoe,

If you are still receiving TIBs, then you have not been declared MMI as of yet. Has your treating Dr. in Dallas been able to connect all of your current injuries that you are being treated for to the accident over seas?? If he hasn't, then he needs to, or you will not be able to be compensated at the end of your claim for all of them.

Is the surgeon the only Dr that you are seeing at this time?? Most of the time, you have a treating Dr that refers you out to other Dr's for surgery, PT, second opinions etc. But he remains in control of your care throughout your claim.

Until you are totally finished with your claim...meaning all PT and any other treatment that is necessary to get you to MMI and are sent for a IRE, no one can tell you, or even begin to guess what your claim might be worth monetarily. More than likely, your injuries will be rated and then added together to come up with an "as a whole body" percentage and your monies will be based on that percent.

However, once you are found to be MMI and you start to receive IIB's, that doesn't mean you are done. In the state of TX, medical care for your injury is for life as no other insurance will touch a work comp injury. Texas is one of a few states that automatically do this at the end of a claim.

Angel ^j^

Thanks Angel,

I have been with the same Dr. except for the hernia surgery. Everything else has been handled by the same physicians group. The IC has already paid for the surgeries so I would assume that they know they are all connected. Should I retain a lawyer?

[UndercovrAngel]

Scoe,

At this time, I wouldn't worry about hiring an attorney. It sounds as if your IC is doing right by you in paying for all of your care, as well as allowing you to get the treatment that you need to move ahead with reaching MMI. And it also sounds as if they are paying your TIBs on time. There really isn't anything that an attorney could do for you. And once you hire an attorney, they are entitled to 20% plus office expenses, of all monies that are awarded to you once you sign the contract.

In your first post, you mentioned that your surgeon didn't know what MMI meant. And he probably wouldn't, as his only job is to do the surgery. It is your treating Dr's job to decide when he feels you have reached MMI. So it isn't a big thing the surgeon not knowing what you were talking about.

If there comes a time, when you feel that you are no longer getting the care that you need, or the IC stops paying your TIBs for a reason you do not feel is correct or fair, that would be the time to contact an attorney. And if you find yourself needing a good attorney in the DFW area, let me know. I would gladly refer you to mine. She is in the DFW and easy to get to, as well as easy to reach, both by phone or email and if she isn't available, she has some great paralegals. However, I hope that isn't the case.

Once you are found to be MMI, you will be sent for an IRE and given a rating. In your case, they will probably combine all injuries into one percent for body as a whole (WC does not award for pain and suffering) and you would take that % and multiply it by 3 weeks of the TIBs that you have received up to that point. So say you receive a rating of 11% as a whole.. and your TIBs are $500 per week, your TIBs would become IIBs and you would recieve an additional $500 a week for 11 weeks.

If your rating is over 15% as a whole (I believe that is the magic number) at the end of the 15 weeks you would become eligible for SIBs which is another can of worms entirely. I wouldn't concern myself with that until you reach the stage when you are ready to be rated.

Hope this has given you a few answers that you can use to put your mind at ease.

Angel ^j^