Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Advanced Medical Bill Issues in Workers’ Comp Matters
Job injury claims are deceptively simple, mostly because liability (legal responsibility), the key element in these claims, is so easy to establish, at least in many cases. Job injury cases are no-fault cases. The victim must only establish a connection between the victim’s work environment and the claimed illness or injury to obtain full… Read More »
Maximum Medical Improvement and Workers’ Compensation
MMI is a physical therapy term that usually means “as good as it gets.” Generally, after they complete medical treatment, job injury victims go through physical therapy. In some cases, there’s a (relatively) happy ending. The victim fully recovers and life goes back to normal. In most cases, however, victims plateau during physical therapy…. Read More »
Five SSD Renewal Benefit Strategies
Social Security Disability benefits are available for permanent disabilities. A “disability” is “permanent” for Social Security Administration purposes if that disability lasts more than a year. So, the SSA usually orders annual benefit renewal reviews. If the applicant is no longer disabled, the SSA could cut off benefits. The SSA reluctantly granted benefits in… Read More »
Hearing Loss and Workers’ Compensation
Hearing loss is, by far, the most common occupational disease in the United States. Some sixty million Americans struggle with a significant degree of hearing loss, usually in both ears. This physical injury has emotional effects. People who cannot follow conversations often stop socializing. The withdrawal from family, friends, and pleasant activities causes a… Read More »
Can You Claim PTSD from a Car Accident?
In most cases, yes. Contrary to popular myth, car crashes, especially if they cause other catastrophic injuries, often cause PTSD as well. A sudden and unexpected car crash has roughly the same effect on the brain as a sudden and unexpected firefight in a foreign field. This effect is a physical brain injury. Extreme… Read More »
What Are My Rights Under Workers’ Compensation in Florida?
Injured workers have three basic rights under Florida’s workers’ compensation law. All these rights are designed to get injured workers back on the job as fast as possible. In the end, that’s what everyone wants. Workers’ compensation also fairly compensates job injury victims. This compensation is part of the early 1900s Grand Bargain between… Read More »
Medical Bills, Medical Debt, and Workers’ Compensation
Despite attempts to address the issue, high medical bills are still the leading cause of consumer bankruptcy filings in the United States. Most of these bankruptcies involve long-term disease care or serious trauma injury care. The average hospital stay costs $4,000 per day. At that rate, even if a health insurance company pays most… Read More »
Five Quick FAQs About Workers’ Compensation in Florida
“Do I qualify for benefits?” is the most common workers’ compensation FAQ. Yes, you qualify for benefits, if a work-related illness or injury caused economic loss, usually medical bills and/or lost wages. They have specific questions as well, some of which we address in this post. The aforementioned work-related disability could be temporary or… Read More »
Employers Workers’ Compensation Fraud in Florida
Headlines regularly scream about the high rate of workers’ compensation fraud. The headlines don’t say that worker fraud, such as fabricating or exaggerating a claim, makes up less than 2 percent of this eye-popping number. Employer fraud, usually one of the frauds discussed below, makes up the other 98-plus percent. When workers commit fraud,… Read More »
Fatal Hurricane-Related Crash in Tampa
Investigators say a dark traffic light at a Tampa intersection, which was not functioning due to Hurricane Milton, contributed to a fatal intersection collision. When the officers arrived at the intersection of Florida and Palm, they found a 2005 Nissan Sentra had collided with a 2022 Hyundai Tucson, hitting the passenger side of the… Read More »
