Workers Compensation And Pre
Insurance companies often attempt to deny workers compensation by asserting that the back pain is due to pre-existing conditions. Some of the pre-existing conditions that may cause or aggravate back pain include:
- Age
- Congenital defects of the spine
- Lack of exercise
- Obesity
- Smoking
In particular, coughing due to smoking can cause back pain spinal disc degeneration may be accelerated because smoking reduces blood flow to the lower spine. Job dissatisfaction has also been associated with back pain in some studies. It may be difficult to prove that back disorders are work-related. Some conditions develop gradually over time as repetitive tasks induce microtrauma to the back. A thorough medical examination by a licensed physician can help determine whether working conditions contributed to turning a mild pre-existing condition into a serious a back problem requiring time off from work.
Why Your Back Hurts
Back pain from a workplace injury can have several causes. It can come from a single act, like lifting a box thats too heavy, or from a gradual, persistent strain on back muscles, ligaments, and the disks protecting your vertebrae.
Repetitive motions, such as lifting, pulling, pushing, loading, and even sitting improperly can eventually cause your back to weaken or become strained.
Common back injuries affect these structures:
Back pain can be acute or chronic:
- Acute pain comes on quickly but lessens within three to six weeks. While acute back pain can be excruciating, it is temporary.
- Chronic pain continues for more than six weeks. Chronic back pain can be present for years or become permanently disabling.
Treatment For Lower Back Pain
Treatment for lower back pain can range from mild to complicated surgery that may affect your ability to work. You may also have to receive physical therapy, chiropractic care, and other types of therapies that allow you to live a normal and pain-free life.
If the pain is accurate, then your doctor may recommend narcotic painkillers, such as Vicodin. However, this type of medication can be a double-edged sword: while they provide the pain relief you need, the side effects can affect other aspects of your life. They can also create addiction and cause more problems than fixing.
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Can My Doctor Help Me Obtain Workers Comp
Generally, no. Obtaining workers comp is between you and your employer, not your doctor. Sometimes I will be asked to make a determination if a patients injury is work related, which involves going through the patients medical records presented to me, but those instances are rare, Dr. Tyndall says.
Will My Workers Compensation Claim Be Denied
Qualifying for Workers Compensation benefits is just the beginning of your insurance claim process. Once you have qualified, your claim will go through an evaluation. During this time, the Workers Compensation system will investigate your claim to see if they approve your payment. If they find any discrepancies in the information provided, or if they find you did not follow through with their instructions, your claim may be denied.
For instance, one of the reasons for dismissing claims is failure to notify the employer. Generally, you are required to notify your employer of your injury at least thirty days from the event. Such notice must be in writing and detail the circumstances of your accident. If you fail to meet this requirement, your claim may be denied. A qualified attorney can help you understand the Workers Compensation claim process and avoid mistakes that may hurt your chances of obtaining compensation. A skilled Arkansas workers comp attorney can help you throughout the entire process including instances of workmans comp claim denials.
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Factors To Consider During Work
Workers comp insurers often lowball claimants with the first settlement offer. While a five, six, or even seven-figure offer may seem like a high amount, you must compare the settlement with your anticipated future needs.
Factors to consider include:
- The value of any lost promotional opportunities
- The replacement cost of employer-sponsored fringe benefits, such as medical insurance premiums, disability insurance, paid vacation time, or new parent leave
- Necessary future surgical treatments, pain management, or medical equipment
- Difficulties associated with transitioning to a new career, including educational needs and age-related opportunities
- Any salary cuts related to accepting a new job
- Claimants potential remaining work-life for example, the difference between injured at 24 years of age and injured at 56
- The overall severity of the injury, including the pain and mental anguish associated with the condition
- Cost of future medical conditions that may occur due to the back pain, such as depression, nerve damage, weight gain, and fatigue
Legal professionals often obtain expert reports from medical providers, occupational therapists, and economists to calculate the value of a workers compensation claims. Expert orthopedists, chiropractors, and spinal surgeons may help a claimant understand future medical treatment costs, treatment timelines, and necessary accommodations.
Workers Comp For Back Injury In North Carolina
North Carolina law treats back injuries differently than injuries to other parts of the body. While North Carolina generally requires that an injured worker be hurt in an accident in order to recover workers compensation benefits, that rule does not apply with back injuries.
With back injuries, an injured worker may recover workers compensation for a back injury if the injury was the result of a specific traumatic incident that occurred while in the course and scope of their employment duties.
This relaxed rule for back injuries results in many back injury claims being considered compensable, whereas they would have been denied if they were injuries to other body parts. There are literally thousands of cases where North Carolina Courts or the Industrial Commission debate what exactly constitutes an accident.
Relieving injured workers of the burden of proving they were hurt in an accident that caused their back injury is for many people a huge help in ensuring their back injury workers comp claim is promptly accepted. That means getting quicker access to medical care, and being paid for your time out of work more quickly.
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V Average Workers Comp Settlement For Back Injury
Back injuries are some of the most common types of work injuries. If you have suffered a back injury at work, you may be wondering what you can expect for any workers compensation settlements for back injury.
According to a 2015 study involving workers compensation cases, the average payout for back injury at work was $23,600. This sum includes both settlements and awards given at trial.
The average payout for workers compensation cases, in general, was found to be $21,800. Based on this study, workers compensation back injury settlement amounts tend to be slightly higher than the average settlement and award for workers comp cases in general.
Since back injuries can vary widely in severity, the average settlement for back injury at work may not be an amount that is realistic for you to expect. Conversely, the average may also be lower than what your case is actually worth if you have a more severe injury.
Workers Comp Cases Fell In The Pandemic But That Doesnt Mean Employees Working From Home Had No Aches And Pains
In the coronavirus pandemic that sent millions of employees home to begin new work routines, reports of occupational injuries that were expected failed to materialize.
Remote workers still have lower back aches, neck pains and other afflictions common to sedentary jobs. But many are not reporting their physical ailments, instead seeking health advice to avoid or treat musculoskeletal and other problems.
The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., which handles about 1 million worker compensation and disability insurance claims a year, said the number of business customers seeking services to prevent work-from-home injuries jumped 200% in 18 months.
Vivienne Fleischer, co-founder and president of Performance Based Ergonomics, a consulting firm in the San Francisco area, said her company faces a tidal wave of requests for virtual ergonomic help and advice.
She, too, said an anticipated uptick in workers comp cases has not been reported.
The Hartford expected rising claims because people were sitting at their couches without the proper keyboard, without the proper chair height, she said. Expectations of musculoskeletal problems and injuries were the focus of a lot of talk early in the pandemic and employers caught on quickly, providing ergonomic help and advice, she said.
Theyre not going to HR to report things, Fleischer said. They might say I need support. My back hurts. I need a new chair.
People were struggling to find comfort and privacy, Fleischer said.
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Average Settlement For Work
According to an analysis of workers who received settlements for workplace accidents, the average compensation for back injuries was $23,600. This amount was slightly higher than the mean settlement for all types of injuries, which was $21,800.
That said, the amount that individual workers receive can vary significantly. This is because the final compensation is often influenced by certain factors, such as the severity of the injury.
Do You Get Workers Comp For A Repetitive Stress Injury
You probably know that you can file for workers compensation benefits after a serious work-related injury, like a slip and fall in the workplace or an accident on a construction site. What happens if your work injury did not happen all at once, though, but instead happened gradually over time? Can you still get workers comp?
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Chronic Pain Caused By Work
The word injury encompasses numerous things under the workers compensation system, including fractured bones and invisible injuries, such as:
- Damaged and pinched nerves.
- Stinging feeling along the hands, arms, feet, or legs.
- Occupational illnesses resulting from regular contact with toxic materials and chemicals while working. These illnesses include mesothelioma and asbestosis.
- Recurring stress injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
These injuries are considered to be chronic. The pain and uneasiness caused by these injuries or illnesses is long lasting. Workers compensation offers similar benefits for work-related chronic pain. However, it is essential for the chronic condition to be connected with the work of the employee. In order to receive workers compensation benefits due to arthritis, diabetes, lung cancer, and other chronic conditions, the employee should prove that it developed due to his or her work.
Suffering Neck And Back Pain From Work
Injuries to the neck and back are extremely debilitating because it is difficult to move any part of the body without affecting the injured area. Even walking, sitting or standing can be unbearable when you have a neck or back injury. Obviously, this type of pain makes working at any occupation uncomfortable or impossible.
If you have suffered a back or neck injury on the job, we can help. The lawyers at Silverman, Silverman & Seligman, P.C., in Schenectady, New York, have decades of experience with workplace injury claims and workers compensation. We will assist you in recovering benefits from workers comp, Social Security Disability Insurance and long-term disability insurance if you are disabled. Please call our office at to schedule an appointment. Your consultation is free.
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What Types Of Back Injuries Does Workers Compensation Cover
When it comes to accidents in the workplace, back injuries are prevalent among employees no matter where they work. Back injuries are often painful and long-lasting and can happen in just about any work environment. Whether your pain is sharp and stabbing or dull and achy, these types of symptoms can make it extremely difficult to focus on work or even continue working at all. In this article, we will discuss a few common back injuries that people often get on the job that is covered by workers compensation.
How Long Will It Take To Get Compensation For A Back Injury
The time taken to get compensation largely depends on the severity of your injury, the type of compensation sought and the governing compensation scheme.
For back injuries sustained in the workplace, WorkSafe will pay weekly payments as a percentage of your pre-injury earnings while you’re unable to perform the job you were doing at the time of your injury. Decisions regarding weekly payments are usually made within 28 days from the date of making a valid WorkCover claim. If your claim is accepted, weekly payments will usually begin within seven days.
Approved medical and treatment expenses can be invoiced to your employer or to WorkSafe directly. If you choose to pay a medical bill at the time of service, you should be reimbursed within 30 days from the day WorkSafe receives your receipt. WorkSafe will only pay for the approved cost of treatment.
If you work-related back injury has resulted in a permanent impairment, you may be entitled to a once-off lump sum payment called an impairment benefit. Impairment benefits are made in addition to weekly payments for lost wages and medical expenses.
Once your level of impairment has been assessed, WorkSafe has up to 120 days to determine whether you are entitled to an impairment benefit.
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When And To Whom Should I Report My Injury
Report your workers comp back injury to your supervisor or your companys human resources department. Depending on your state, theres a statute of limitations to file a claim for an injury. In Ohio, for example, you have one year from the date of injury to file a workers comp claim with your supervisor or human resources department.
Still, its best to report your injury and seek help as soon as you can after getting injured at work. The longer you wait, the more apt your employer is to dispute the legal validity of your workers comp claim, as in: If you were injured last year, why didnt you file for workers comp sooner?
C Average Workers Comp Settlement For Spinal Fusion
A laminectomy with spinal fusion surgery is necessary in some severe back injury cases. Workers compensation back injuries involving spinal fusion surgeries tend to have higher settlements than other types of back injuries.
It is not unusual for a spinal fusion workers compensation case for a high wage earner to result in a settlement of $100,000 or more. When a spinal fusion is required at multiple levels, the eventual workers comp spinal fusion settlement may be even higher.
Additionally, in severe back injury cases in which the workers injured needs a spinal fusion surgery, that worker may never be able to return to work in their former capacity. They may also be permanently and totally disabled, which can significantly increase the settlement for the case.
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Frequently Asked Questions About A Back Injury At Work In Michigan & Workers Comp
On the job injury laws in Michigan are designed to provide wage loss benefits and medical treatment for injuries that occur when youre on the job. But there are some common injuries that are routinely disputed by employers and insurance companies. Below our attorneys are discussing a back injury at work and workers comp in Michigan and what to watch out for.
For help now, call us at 221-2667. You can also fill out our free consultation form.
Back Injuries Can Be Debilitating
There is little one can do to escape pain in the back. According to the National Institute of Neurological and Stroke , back pain is one of the most common reasons most people seek medical care. What is more astounding is they also report that approximately 20 percent of people still suffer from pain more than 12 months after their injuries.
These facts make it even harder for those who suffered from back pain following an injury because of an accident or long-term bending and lifting on the job to fully recover and return to their original employment. In these cases, a workers compensation claim may be your only option. If you are unable to return to work because of back pain, there is a chance the insurer will approach you about a workers comp settlement due to a back injury. Remember, you are entitled to collect benefits for as long as you are unable to work. However, you may also feel the need to reach a final settlement if this is the most financially feasible option for you and your family.
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Do You Have An Award Order Covering The Work
There is a strong likelihood that the insurance company will deny your back injury claim initially. Or that if it accepts that you suffered a back injury at work, it will offer an agreement form that covers only a lumbar strain and not your lumbar spine.
But suppose the insurance carrier accepts that you suffered a back injury and agrees to the entry of an Award Order that covers all injured body parts. In that case, your case has more settlement value because it will be more difficult for the insurer to escape liability for wage loss and medical benefits.
You can also receive an Award Order by proving your case at a trial.
Diagnosing And Treating Lower Back Pain
Workers who suffer a sudden back injury should seek immediate medical treatment. Because lower back pain often indicates a more serious underlying condition, you should never assume it will just go away on its own. For many injured workers, continuing to work only aggravates an already serious condition. Your health care provider may conduct a physical exam as well as order various diagnostic and imaging tests. Treatment for lower back pain may involve the following:
- Heat and cold therapy
- Medication to reduce pain and inflammation
- Complementary therapies, such as massage and chiropractic care
- Surgery
Most lower back injuries also require some downtime to rest and recover, preventing workers from returning to work immediately after an injury.
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