Wellness

[CouponQueen]

I work full time - commute many hours and am a heavy care given of my husband. I have family that assists during the day after I leave..and takes him to some appt's but I do all teh scheduling, ADL's, medications etc...

She may work off hours..she may be able to leave him alone while she works..she talks of pain.

I don't like all the time when people come here with heartfelt issues..they are always questioned..if you don't wish to listen or believe her..move on..nobody would make this stuff up..and I have been thru the grind with my husband the last four years..I totally understand just one day the person is normal and before you know it...their life as you knew it gone..I was forced to apply for SSDI on him as his long term insurance (thank goodness he had a fantastic job..the two things he had most to be thankful for was our financial position never changed and he had the best heatlh insurance out there and it cost us nothing.....) forced us too..we or I was in denial that he would be able to return.

I applied and did a half hearted application on 8/24..on 11/13 a significant amount of money was deposited in our checking and I was shocked..I googled the code and it was the SSAdministration..

Things happen life is not guaranteed..

As for the post and question she posted. I would go along wtih the Court Appointed Nurse Case Mgr. Her Attorney already told her to comply and also..Court Appointed means Judge did it..and you don't mess with the Judge. Keep notes..try and be as normal as you can ..as you will be nervous.

Best of luck to you and Hubby..I seriously mean that..I know how life can change on a dime..without two great kids..my SIL and my Mom..I wouldn't be able to do it..they pitch in for me when I am not around..I can retire when I am 55 with great pension so I am plugging away my last five years..I am gone a significant part of the day and/or night depending on my job.and they all fill in and help out.

[Kathy19078]

phoenixbrd, it appears that your husband has his own attorney. If that is the case, please make sure that he specializes in workers comp. If not, please find an attorney that specializes in workers comp. It also appears that this claim has been ongoing for 2 years. You may not be aware of this, but after 2 years the workers comp insurance company wants to settle this claim in a lump sum. Your husband's attorney should have told you this. In workers comp cases there are usually two attorneys. One works for the workers comp insurance company and the other works for your husband to protect his interests. How long has your husband's attorney been involved? I do not understand why your husband's attorney did not get you some home care for him paid for by the workers comp insurance company. Maybe an aide and/or nurse depending on what his doctor ordered. The workers comp attorney that you hire is paid directly by the workers comp insurance company a percentage of the settlement. Most attorneys that specialize in workers comp also handle social security disability. His social security disability will be reduced depending on what he gets for the settlement. This is why you need a good workers comp attorney that knows all the laws.

I fell at work and fractured my left hip in June of 2013. I had to have a partial hip replacement and then went to a rehab facility. I immediately went on workers comp. At the end of last year, I hired a workers comp attorney. I talked to several attorneys before I found the one I hired. The one I hired was the only one that actually told me the workers comp insurance company would be very motivated to settle because I was close to getting Medicare this year. That would complicate the claim. My claim was settled in March 2014. I will be 65 in November. I applied for early social security and work part time. I did not apply for disability because I am not disabled. One of my medical bills was denied by the workers comp insurance company, and my attorney told me that they had to pay it. He got it paid. I did receive several other bills from providers, and I e-mailed them to my attorney and he said that the workers comp insurance company had to pay them and he got them paid.

The law firm I used only handles workers comp and social security disability and are one of the largest firms in Philadelphia. They also have offices in New York and New Jersey. I would be happy to recommend them, but I do not know if I can post that here. Let me know if you are interested and maybe we can exchange e-mail addresses.

[phoenixbrd]

Thank you all for your supportive and thoughtful responses. Kathy, our attorney does specialize in worker's comp, thank you for your kind offer. We have been told for a long time that we would be receiving some type of assistance, but it was always denied. Coupon Queen, your share warmed my heart. Happy Housewife, I called B&B today as a result of your post. I called our attorney and asked if he would attend the meeting with us and was told it would be a conflict, so he could not attend. My husband insisted that I be with him and the nurse case manager said he wanted to talk to my husband and I was also informed he would be talking pictures of our home. My husband is beside himself as he wants me with him. I offered other dates and times that I could attend and the case manager said he would be calling my attorney. I think it best not continue to post. So much gratitude for those of you who took the time to share. I've always respected the ladies on this board and you have been the best.

[stevieb]

Sounds as though you have little choice but to permit the appointment to go forward. It's not unusual for doctors and lawyers not to see eye to eye where things like this are concerned. If a judge has mandated the visit, then could not to allow it lead to a contempt citation? Even if the case-manager is employer mandated, they are likely within their rights to have 'their' person meet with you and form an assessment.

[phoenixbrd]

stevieb...we are not refusing to see him, only requesting that I be present in the room with my husband. He is frail and in pain. A lot has not been reasonable about the last two years.

[Spunkyspouts]

On 9/24/2014 RedTop said: My opinion is that if you have 2 years of medical documentation on your husbands condition, do not waste time hiring an attorney. I feel confident you will get what you need from online filing. I would not share a huge part of your husbands back pay with an attorney, and Social Security will review your husbands records and determine when his condition became disabling, and pay him back benefits from that date to the present, as well as starting his monthly benefit.

this is true, trust the Lord.

[151949]

On 9/26/2014 Spunkyspouts said:

On 9/24/2014 RedTop said: My opinion is that if you have 2 years of medical documentation on your husbands condition, do not waste time hiring an attorney. I feel confident you will get what you need from online filing. I would not share a huge part of your husbands back pay with an attorney, and Social Security will review your husbands records and determine when his condition became disabling, and pay him back benefits from that date to the present, as well as starting his monthly benefit.

this is true, trust the Lord.

Redtop - since the OP has not shared any information except her opinion that her DH is in pain and very frail - not what work he did or what his injury was - it would be impossible for you to know that he can easily get accepted for SSD on the first try. Obviously, he is having some difficulty with WC so it is not a cut and dry case. Advice like this - stated to infer you know all about it - is not useful, IMO. when she speaks to the atty they will ask her pertinant questions to determine if it is a case that will likely be accepted for SSD. They actually know what they are talking about,and will be able to tell her if they will accept the case or not based on the facts.If they do not feel they can win they do not accept the case.

[baddest_dog]

On 9/26/2014 happy housewife said:

On 9/26/2014 Spunkyspouts said:

On 9/24/2014 RedTop said: My opinion is that if you have 2 years of medical documentation on your husbands condition, do not waste time hiring an attorney. I feel confident you will get what you need from online filing. I would not share a huge part of your husbands back pay with an attorney, and Social Security will review your husbands records and determine when his condition became disabling, and pay him back benefits from that date to the present, as well as starting his monthly benefit.

this is true, trust the Lord.

Redtop - since the OP has not shared any information except her opinion that her DH is in pain and very frail - not what work he did or what his injury was - it would be impossible for you to know that he can easily get accepted for SSD on the first try. Obviously, he is having some difficulty with WC so it is not a cut and dry case. Advice like this - stated to infer you know all about it - is not useful, IMO. when she speaks to the atty they will ask her pertinant questions to determine if it is a case that will likely be accepted for SSD. They actually know what they are talking about,and will be able to tell her if they will accept the case or not based on the facts.If they do not feel they can win they do not accept the case.

I am not an expert in all this, but if he collected WC income he was getting paid already from the insurance his employer paid into on the job, maybe not full 100% but he got paid for a work related injury.

Why then would SS go back in time and pay him again for his disability? Wouldn't that be double dipping? I thought WC cases when they finally got settled, pay out a lump sum of money to close the case where the person would no longer be considered "employable" and no longer be able to have doctor visits covered under the WC case number relating to that injury. If then one files for SS disability, then the would look at the permanent injury that meant he could no longer work and review medical records that state from the doctor he person is totally and permanently disabled and if in his favor, start SSDI.

[151949]

baddest dog - in my case the WC said they were not going to continue to pay me BECAUSE I could not go back to work so it had to go over to my long term disability. The LTD was self insured by my employer. So - the attorneys for my employers said we will pay you until you start on SSD - and we will hire a firm, at no cost to you, to help you get that SSD. My SSD did not pay me any back pay because I had been being paid by LTD,and it was at no cost to me , but cost my employer $5300 for the attorneys who took care of the SSD case.So they paid me for 8 months LTD + the atty fees instead of paying me for 7 years of LTD until I could get regular SS. It was a win/win for all involved.

[Deanie]

On 9/24/2014 lizzief said: When my DH fell off a loading dock and had a neck operation, he was on workers comp. This happened at least 10 yrs ago, but I remember there was something called "maximum medical improvement." When that was reached, the benefits ended. At some point there is a medical evaluation that determines MMI. But there are several things that I don't understand about your post. "Court appointed" would indicate there is some sort of litigation going on. You also refer to "his worker's compensation attorney," but I'm not sure if this attorney is actually representing your DH or is the attorney for your DH's worker's comp insurance company. If the attorney is representing your husband, then follow his advice. If the attorney is representing the company's workers comp carrier, then you should have your own attorney. If the evaluation is court appointed, ordered by a judge, you can't defy a court order. It sounds like you need some legal advice to sort out everything that's going on.

I could not agree more. Anyone that has not been hired by you should be treated with respect and suspicion. You need your own lawyer. If the WC lawyer is not hired by you, that is.