Author: Keenan Powell

When things go the way they are supposed to: you report your injury to your Employer.  Your Employer reports the injury to his insurance company and the Alaska Workers Compensation Board. The insurance company adjuster contacts you with a claim number to give to your medical providers.  You send your doctor’s work releases to the insurance company and the insurance company sends you temporary total disability as long as you are off work.  You get the medical treatment you need and go back to work.

When things don’t go right.  The first problem I’ve seen, time and again, is the Employer refuses to report the injury to his insurance company and the Alaska Workers Compensation Board.  If that happens, contact an attorney immediately.  You will need an attorney to obtain the benefits to which you are entitled.

What kind of benefits are you entitled to?  Reasonable and necessary medical treatment for your work-related injury, for as long as you need it.  That could mean the rest of your life.  You are entitled to be compensated for time lost from work, whether you’re off full time or part time.  You are entitled to a PPI rating if you’re injury is permanent.  You may be entitled to retraining.  You are entitled to be compensated for your travel for treatment, even if it is few miles.  Gas is expensive.

For more information, check out FAQ page: http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.  With more than 30 years of experience representing injured Alaskans, Keenan Powell is currently accepting workers compensation cases.For a free consultation, call the Law Office of Keenan Powell: 907 258 7663.

When the Board orders an SIME (Second Independent Medical Evaluation), the Employer is obligated to pay the doctor, provide transportation and pay per diem to the Employee. These arrangements must be made and conveyed to the Employee no later than 10 days before the SIME appointment. 8 AAC 45.090.

The “per diem” is the amount of money to which the Employee is entitled for meals and incidentals. The proper amount depends on how long the Employee is out of state and where the Employee is set. The Alaska Workers Compensation Board had adopted the federal standards for establishing per diem. http://labor.state.ak.us/wc/bulletins/13-01.pdf.

The federal per diem rates are found at the government website: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104877.

For instance, if an Employee was sent to San Francisco for 24 hours for a SIME, the Employer should send the Employee a check for $71 to cover meals and incidentals. http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100120.

If the Employer fails to provide timely notice of the travel arrangements, that is 10 days or more in advance, then the Employee is not obligated to attend the SIME. The reason for the 10 days notice is apparent. It allows the Employee time to arrange time of work or babysitting or dogsitting or any other arrangements that need to be made.

If the Employee does not attend the SIME because the Employer did not make travel arrangements timely, the Employer is obligated to pay the doctor’s missed appointment fee. If the appointment is missed, the Employee call the Board and/or request a prehearing to inform the Board designee so that another appointment can be made.

The Law Office of Keenan Powell provides free consultations regardless of whether or not you have been controverted. To contact Keenan Powell, use the contact form on this page or call 258-7663.

For more information about Workers Compensation, see: http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.

When you start looking for an attorney to handle your workers compensation claim, you will quickly find out that attorneys will ask you to pull together a number of records to review. At the very least, he or she will want to see all of your medical records since your date of injury, the report of the insurance doctor (EIME), if one exists, and the controversion notice, if one exists. Depending on the circumstances, the attorney may want to request more documents in order to review your case.

There are two basic reasons why attorneys ask for the file before deciding whether to accept the case: first, in order to evaluate the case properly, and second, it is a test.

It is difficult for an attorney to determine whether he or she can help the claimant without reviewing the file because Workers Compensation law, and the process, is complicated and each case is unique. Many claimants have seen a number of doctors before they call an attorney, so obtaining their medical records can be a complicated and tedious process. Moreover, where many doctors will give their patient a copy of the file for free, they charge attorneys up to $75 or more for the records, even if there is only one visit. It’s easy to see that if attorneys went to the expense and time to collect documents for every person that called, he or she would not have time to devote to pursuing his client’s claims.

The second reason for asking claimants to gather the records is that, it is a test. If a claimant does not have enough motivation to collect the files, then he or she probably doesn’t have enough motivation to see the case through. If he or she cannot or does not follow directions, then he or she will be a difficult client to work with because the claimant must cooperate during the case in order to proceed.

So if you are serious about your workers compensation claim, collect the records which are asked of you. All of them.

The Law Office of Keenan Powell provides free consultations regardless of whether or not you have been controverted. To contact Keenan Powell, use the contact form on this page or call 258-7663.

For more information about Workers Compensation, see: http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.

It has come to my attention that Alaska National is sending out medical releases to injured workers asking them to release medical information from 1998 forward.  Further the medical releases are phrased in such a way that the provider will release all medical records from that date.

This is not the law.  Alaska Workers Compensation law is very clear.  The insurance company is entitled to medical information relating only to the injured body part from two years prior to the date of injury in most circumstances.

In the event that the injured body part was injured previously, then the insurance company would be entitled to medical records from two years prior to the first treatment date.

It is imperative that an injured worker respond to the request for medical releases timely.  If the releases are overbroad (see information beyond what the insurance company is entitled to) then the injured worker must file a petition for protective order with the Alaska Workers Compensation Board.  The form is available on the Board's website: http://labor.state.ak.us/wc/pdf_list.htm.  Use form 07-6111.  You must print the form, fill it out, file a copy with the Board and send a copy to the insurance company.

If you fail to execute the forms and return them on time, or instead file a petition for protective order, the insurance company is entitled to cut off all of your benefits, time loss payment and medical benefits included, until the issue is resolved.  Nothing will happen in your case,

For more information, see http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html

Contact Keenan Powell through the contact form or call: 258-7663. Toll free: 888-368-5678.

One of insurance companies’ tricks to avoid paying Workers Compensation is to have their doctor state that there was no specific injury at work when the injury that the Employee sustained as a chronic overuse injury which accumulated over a period of time.

Another trick, often seen played at the same time, is for the insurance doctor to say that the pain the Employee is suffering is the result of a pre-existing condition.

The law is clear, and the insurance companies know it, that chronic overuse injuries are compensable under Alaska Workers Compensation law just like an injury from a traumatic event.
Some of the injuries seen develop from chronic overuse include hand nerve injuries, back and neck strains, herniated discs.

The law is equally clear, and the insurance companies know it, that when a work-related injury combines with, aggravates or accelerates a pre-existing condition, then it is still compensable Alaska Workers Compensation law. It is not important that the underlying problem (usually degenerative disc disease) was the result of work, but the pain was caused by working.

If the insurance company has controverted your benefits because it paid a doctor to say you weren’t hurt at work, you need to speak to an attorney.

The Law Office of Keenan Powell provides free consultations regardless of whether or not you have been controverted. To contact Keenan Powell, use the contact form on this page or call 258-7663.

For more information about Workers Compensation, see: http://www.keenanpowell.com/faq-wc.html.