? about settlement process

[maw19531]

I had a work related back injury in 2004 with 2 surgeries one in 2005 and one in 2006. The last surgery was an anterior/posterior 3 level fusion with instrumentation. I have gone through 10 months of Pt, 7 spinal epidurals, numerous mri's and x-rays, discogram etc. I finally reached MMI in Dec, 2007 after taking an FCE test which showed I can only sit or stand no more than 2 hours per work day. My surgeon released me to work based upon all of the restrictions on the FCE exam I took. The insurance company wants to settle the case and requested a demand from my attorney. He sent the demand based upon a wage differential case because I will never be able to work a full 8 hour day again. My job before was a general manager of a company and I sat for most of the day. The insurance company sent back an offer saying they will pay me based upon me being disabled 40% man as a whole in Illinois. From everything I have been reading I, the petitioner have the right to choose if I want the wage differential case or not and once I decide I can not change my mind. Anyway the IC offer came in 2 months ago and I refused it. Now no one is budging. What happens now? Do we have to set a hearing date with an arbritrator to let him decide the case if neither side is willing to make a move? How long do these cases sit idle until the insurance company will contact us to negotiate. They are still paying me my weekly TTD checks so I would think they would want to hurry up and settle. They also have to do a medicare set a side since I am on medicare already. I am only 54 but I am on SSD for 2 years now.

[Lilly]

Hi.
My lawyer was contacted last year by IC wanting to settle. He entered an amount we seeked. Of course IC denied, we did not counter offer. It was then in limbo until recently (while i still received my weekly PPD $ and SSD), IC contacted lawyer re: settlement again a couple of months ago....but, I haven't heard anything since ...other than having to send a copy of my medicare card to lawyer...so it appears that this process is just as pokey as initial injury medical treatment. I do not think the IC's are in a hurry to do anything. Meanwhile , we wait.
Take care, Lilly

[jayne]

if you have reached MMI you most likley are not getting TTD but PPD...in which case you are going thru your settlement a week at a time....in OKLAHOMA your 40% would get you 40% of 500 weeks(max they will pay) or 200 weeks times your PPD check.....so if you are getting a hundred dollars a week now you would get 200 x 100 or20 thousand dollars minus lawyer fees,medicare set asides and any court costs you are responsiable for.....IN OKLAHOMA they will deduct any PPD checks you get from the total settlement....I suggest you contact your lawyer and get him to sit down with you and explain this......as the longer you wait the less the final check may be.....

[maw19531]

jayne Wrote:if you have reached MMI you most likley are not getting TTD but PPD...in which case you are going thru your settlement a week at a time....in OKLAHOMA your 40% would get you 40% of 500 weeks(max they will pay) or 200 weeks times your PPD check.....so if you are getting a hundred dollars a week now you would get 200 x 100 or20 thousand dollars minus lawyer fees,medicare set asides and any court costs you are responsiable for.....IN OKLAHOMA they will deduct any PPD checks you get from the total settlement....I suggest you contact your lawyer and get him to sit down with you and explain this......as the longer you wait the less the final check may be.....

My checks stubs still say ttd on them. My employer did not have a job for me when I reached MMI. I worked for a small family business. Since there was no job for me they still have to pay me ttd until they find me a job. The IC has a voc. rehab company working with me for the past 2 months with no luck. I have applied to over 100 jobs so far. In Illinois the ttd rate is 66 2/3 of your pay and the ppd rate is 60% of your pay. I am still receiving the ttd rate of 66 2/3 of my salary.

[jayne]

employers DO NOT have to hold a job for you past 12 weeks in most states and many of us had no job to go back to....I suggest a sit down with your lawyer....why are they forsing you to go to job interviews you have no chance at?That is cruel.....Most IC DO NOT HAVE to settle they can pay out whatever the weeks are you are intitled to....having a medicare set aside is a whole different color of horse and can take months to figure out.....Good luck.....

[Tuffy]

I live in Illinois, and it took over a year for Medicare to figure out that I did not owe them anything. My attorney said that Medicare is usually the problem, and it takes forever to deal with them. whatever, medicare set aside etc. and I could not sign my final settlement papers untill we had heard from Medicare.

All is well now and I have settled my claim. So have patience and hang in there it will happen .

If a settlement can not be reached by either party by using an arbutrator, the next step would be going to court.